good morning. frankenstorm. strong winds and rain from hurricane sandy picking up in florida this morning as emergency crews up and down the east coast prepare for what could be a devastating pre-halloween hit. al is live in florida. the battleground. with 11 days until the election president obama and governor romney step up their messages to voters in ohio while the fbi investigates a case of alleged voter fraud and intimidation in another key swing state. and where in the world is matt lauer? for the first time ever, he is late for work, but there's a good reason why today, friday, october 26th, 2012.

from nbc news, this is "today" with matt lauer and savannah guthrie live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. and good morning. welcome to "today" on a freaky friday morning. i'm savannah guthrie, and i have to say this is a very unusual way to start the show. there's no matt, but apparently he is on his way, and i think we do have a camera with him outside. ♪

>> okay. there he is. is that a motorized surf board he's riding in? we'll be asking why does he do this? part of a segment we're doing a little bit later, and a couple of guys are responsible for videos that have more than 24 million hits online. >> so sorry. >> i am so sorry. >> you are late. >> this storm is coming. the waves on madison were huge. that was fun. >> i hope you don't have helmet head. your hair is going to be a mess. >> how can i have helmet head? >> that was a blast. you've probably seen the videos of these guys we'll introduce you to in a little while. they are responsible for the commute, and they are responsible for some images you'll be seeing later in the show, like those right there. creative geniuses. their work has been seen by millions online.

>> and how was the ride? >> it was a little rough trying to get across central park. that a little difficult. >> a little slow, too. >> thank you. >> couldn't go any faster. >> thank you, great, appreciate it. >> also ahead, other things you can find on the internet. nbc's chris hansen will be here with a revealing investigation into the world of online classified ads. you will not believe what he found for sale and the people who are behind those posts, too. >> then a big launch party was held in london last night for the release of pippa middleton's first book. coming up, what she had to say about the attention she's now getting and also what she said about the royal wedding. >> all right. but we want to start with hurricane sandy. al's in florida just south of west palm beach this morning. al, good morning to you. >> well, good morning to you, guys. so far sandy has been a deadly storm, first hitting cuba. at least 21 people dead there. we've also had reports of at least one person killed in jamaica as that system moved through, roaring through there

as a category two storm. now it is hitting the bahamas, central bahamas, where there are hurricane warnings up. this is the latest on sandy. let's give you the statistics. right now sandy is still a category 1 storm. it's currently 210 miles east of miami, florida, 80-mile-per-hour winds. it's moving northwest at 13. right now hurricane warnings are up for all of the bahamas, a good portion of the bahamas, the central bahamas at least. we're looking at tropical storm warnings from ocean reach, florida, all the way up to flagler beach. tropical storm watch is north of there, and as we make our way into the southeast from the savannah river to the oregon inlet, along the carolinas, we now have tropical storm watches. here's what we look for as far as sandy's path. we're expecting, this is from the national hurricane center. it makes its way across the bahamas today and kind of parallels the florida coast.

by friday afternoon. then it makes a bit of a right turn saturday. we have two models we look at, the gfs which is the american model and the european model. that's put out by the european hurricane organization, and by monday morning the european model is much closer to the shore and comes in on land somewhere just south of the delmarva peninsula, while the american model comes in closer up to new york. and that's going to make a big difference. if it comes in closer to new york, that means the new york and the metropolitan area is going to be in the worst quadrant of the storm, massive flooding, storm surge, he have rain and strong winds. if w say with the european model, it's more about the mid-atlantic states and heavy snow back through the appalachians. we'll know better later today

when both models have the latest run and in the meantime everybody from the carolinas to new england have to watch for this very dangerous storm. it could be an unprecedented one. matt? >> we want people to stay tuned today and all throughout the weekend. al, thank you very much. we'll check in with you in a little while. president obama is back in washington this morning after a whirlwind campaign tour as governor romney heads to iowa and the biggest battleground state of ohio. nbc's political director and chief white house correspondent chuck todd is in cincinnati this morning. chuck, good morning to you. >> reporter: well, good morning, matt. you could be forgiven if you thought barack obama and mitt romney were running for the presidency of ohio. they have been here a lot. they were here a lot yesterday because both campaigns believe this state is that critical to their prospects in 11 days. president obama wrapped up a 48-hour eight-state battleground blitz in cleveland, ohio late thursday, and with a hoarse voice questioned his opponent's

trustworthiness. >> no more serious issue in a presidential campaign than trust. trust matters. you know what, ohio? after all these years you now know me. you know that i mean what i say. >> reporter: at almost exactly the same moment 150 miles west, mitt romney took the stage in defiance, ohio. >> now that's an ohio welcome. thank you. >> reporter: and borrowing a page from president obama's 2008 playbook calling himself the candidate of change. >> this is a time when america faces big challenges. we have a big election, and we want a president who will actually bring big changes. i will and he won't. >> reporter: ohio is the ultimate bellwether in presidential elections, most recently picking george w. bush in 2004 and barack obama in 2008. mitt romney's first stop thursday was in cincinnati, part of hamilton county.

it's the largest county in ohio that switched from republican bush in 2004 to democrat obama in 2008. the president has been putting big emphasis in ohio and other states on early voting which is why he decided to become the first president to cast his ballot before election day. meanwhile, both sides are dealing with some unexpected political speed bumps on the trail. for mitt romney, it's indiana's republican senate candidate richard mourdock who made controversial comments about abortion and rape on tuesday. romney ignored questions about mourdock three times on thursday. >> governor, do you disavoy mourdock's comments on rape? >> reporter: and what may be another unforced error for team romney john sununu made these eyebrow-raising comments in response to colin powell's endorsement of president obama. >> well, i think when you have somebody of your own race that you're proud of being president of the united states, i applaud colin for standing with him. >> reporter: still, mr. obama has his own speed bump to deal with. in an interview published in

"rolling stone" magazine the president commented on the wisdom of children. his remarks, which some have interpreted as a dig at romney, included this quotation. you know, kids have good instincts. they look at the other guy and say, well, that's a bsier, i can tell. he said the comment occurred but during a casual interview during the interview. the campaign did not deny the campaign was referring to mr. romney and as competitive as ohio may be other states may be closer. a nbc news/"wall street journal"/marist poll show a close race in colorado with the two men tied at 48% and while nevada remains close the president is at the magic 50% mark. now, overnight the romney campaign had john sununu release a statement on what he said about colin powell. let me read it to you, matt. colin powell is a friend and i respect the endorsement decision he made, and i do not doubt it

was based on anything of the support of the president's policies. piers morgan's question was whether colin powell should leave the party and i don't believe he should. i don't think that's the way the question was and not an apology for how he made the analysis. chuck, stand by. let's bring in david gregory, moderator of "meet the press." >> good morning, matt. >> it's closing argument time and mitt romney seems to be choosing the closing argument from the 2008 campaign i'm the candidate of change. how is it going to resonate with the undecided voters? >> well, i think there's a question we can't answer this morning which is what's holding undecided voters back from actually making a decision. they know president obama, he's right about that, and now they have gotten a much better sense of governor romney, but there is something holding them back, and so you've got these two arguments. one being change, and i think we have moved into a zone of a change election, and romney has established himself as a safer

alternative. where's the threshold? what president obama is saying you can't trust this guy because his positions are changed. are you voting for mitt the moderator, to coin a phrase, or somebody with with true principles. as long as he keeps raising that doubt the obama campaign is counting on the idea that people will hold back from changing away from an incumbent which is always difficult. >> reporter: >> chuck, let's go back to the battleground states and the new nbc news/"wall street journal"/marist polls. colorado a dead heat. nevada very close, just a couple of points or three points separating obama from romney there. how do those states impact the paths to victory for each of these candidates. >> well, colorado is an unbelievable one potentially, you know, we talk all about ohio, but there is a very viable path, if you will, for both -- for the states to sort of split where mitt romney wins florida, ohio and virginia and is still four electoral shorts. you throw in wisconsin, iowa, new hampshire, and nevada over

into the obama category and suddenly we're staring at colorado as the pivot point. one would be at 263, one would be stuck at 266, and we could be sitting here waiting for colorado to decide things. very quickly, matt. there's two types of swing voters left. people that actually swing back and forth, and then the ones that swing between voting and not voting, and i can tell you in the obama campaign, they are focused on the casual swing voters, the ones that swing between voting and not voting, but when they vote they always vote democrat. >> david real quickly to end here. what about this hurricane sandy? could this be the october surprise? i mean, could it force, for example, president obama off the campaign trail to react to this storm? >> well, that's the most likely scenario because he is the president of the united states, and if there are emergency response measures that have to be taken or if he wants, to you know, be on scene some place where there's been a lot of damage,e may do that. obviously it's just the issue of how much attention is taken away from the campaign trail with an

issue, a storm that could be this unique and this big, so here we go. we'll see what happens. we've got a lot of uncertainty in weather and in politics right now. >> david gregory, chuck todd, thank you both. here's savannah. >> thanks, matt. the election is not for another 11 days but investigations are already under way into cases of alleged voter intimidation and fraud. nbc's national investigative correspondent michael isikoff has more on this. michael, good morning to you. >> savannah, good morning. as election day grows closer, watchdog groups are worried about a surge in dirty tricks. apparently aimed at keeping voters from the polls, and the fbi is now on the case. the official looking letters are showing up across florida, challenging voters' citizenship and their right to vote. those getting them are outraged. >> i was ballistic when i read it. >> basically they were saying they were questioning my citizenship and were implying that they were going to eliminate from being able to vote. >> reporter: fake letters, which threaten non-registered florida

voters with arrest and imprisonment, were all post marked in seattle. up to 100 have been reported in 28 florida counties. the fbi is trying to track down the perpetrators. florida officials are alarmed. >> this is an attempt to intimidate voters in one of the most important states in the united states in a national election. >> reporter: members of both parties and independents have received the phony letters, although a majority seem to have gone to republicans, even one to the state gop chairman. watchdog groups say it's one of many dirty tricks popping up aimed at voter suppression. >> we've seen earlier in the election cycle than previous years these nefarious underhanded tactics by shadowy groups to restrict the ability of responsible americans to vote. >> reporter: these include billboards in minority neighborhoods in pennsylvania warning vote fraud is a felony.

they are now coming down after a public outcry. in arizona some hispanic voters received official notice listing the election as november 8th, two days after election day. just this week, a conservative activist group cut the son of democratic congressman jim moran in an undercover video sting seeming to go along with a plan to cast fraudulent battlllots. >> he said he was trying to humor the person who was asking him but did resign from the campaign. meanwhile another investigation of a republican operative accused of throwing voter registration forms in a dumpster. the operative, colin small, who couldn't be reached for comment, had previously worked for strategic allied consulting, a consulting firm fired by the republican national committee last month after employees turned in hundreds of suspicious

registration forms in florida, including some with fake addresses, like a shell gas station. at the time the head of the firm, nathan sprewall, told nbc news he was the victim of a few bad apples that worked for him. in the case of the phony letters in florida, the state gop chairman that got one received it at his business address from which he writes campaign contributions. that's a sign, the source says, that the perpetrators may have been targeting voters they found on a public database of political donors. savannah? >> michael isikoff in our washington newsroom, thank you. let's get the top stories of the morning now from natalie over at the news desk, natalie, good morning. good morning, matt and savannah. good morning, everyone. we begin with a tragic story here in new york city. a nanny is in critical condition this morning after police say she killed two young children in her care and then attempted to take her own life. nbc's mara schiavocampo is on manhattan's upper west side with

more. good morning to you, mara. >> reporter: good morning, natalie. this is a heartbreaking story, and every parent's worst nightmare. a mother of three returned home to her apartment here yesterday around 5:30 p.m. to discover two of her young children dead, and police say their nanny killed them. this apartment building on manhattan's upper west side was the scene of a horrific crime thursday when police say a nanny killed two young children in her care. the children's mother had taken her 3-year-old daughter to a swim lesson leaving her other children with the nanny. when she came home to a gruesome discovery. >> she enters her apartment. the apartment is dark. she's assuming that the nanny may have gone out with the children. she goes down to the lobby to ask the doorman if in fact they had gone out. he goes no and goes back up in the apartment that's dark and she goes into the bathroom. that's when she discovered the bodies.

>> reporter: police say the nanny identified as 50-year-old joslin ortega seen leaving the building on the stretcher stabbed herself after she killed the children with a kitchen knife. >> i can't imagine how the mother is feeling. >> reporter: the victims are identified as 6-year-old lose i'll krimm and 2-year-old leah krimm. the father is an executive at cnbc and was out of town. he was greeted by new york city city who took him to the hospital who took her to the hospital to be with his wife and surviving 3-year-old child. >> a grieving family searching for answers in the face of unspeakable tragedy. you can see that some flowers and candles have been left here. that nanny is in critical but stable condition and has not yet been charged. this morning cnbc released a statement saying in part there are simply no words to convey the magnitude of this tragedy.

what we can do is come together and express our unwavering support for a friend in need. all of us at cnbc and nbc universal will be there for the family. natalie. >> our hearts go out to the krimm family. thanks so much, mara schiavocampo. now to northern afghanistan where a suicide bomber has killed at least 40 people at a mosque as worshippers marked a muslim holiday. at least 50 others were wounded. the u.s. has condemned the attack. more client names are expected to be released today in the so-called zumba prostitution ring in maine. authorities are set to reveal more than 20 other johns who allegedly hired zumba instructor alexis wright for sex. she and her business partner have pleaded not guilty in the case and they are halfway to the tight. the san francisco giants have won game two of the world series beating out the detroit tigers 2-0. now the series moves to the motor city where it plays game three tomorrow night. 7:19. let's turn it back over to matt

and savannah. >> natalie, nation. let's go back to al in florida for the rest of his forecast. al? >> that's right. let's show you. there are a couple of other big features on the map today besides sandy. we've got a cold front that's bringing rain from the great lakes acold front bringing rain the great lakes down into the gulf coast. behind it, really cold air. then on the west coast, we have santa ana winds setting up. they are going to look at winds in canyons and passes at 55 miles per hour as much as 65 miles per hour. high fire dangers are in effect. back to the system pushing into the east. that may combine with the remnants of sandy and cold air. may have an effect on the swing states especially pennsylvania and ohio with up to a foot of snow before this thing is all over early next week. that's what's going on around the country. here's what's happening in your neck of the woods. >> good morning. i'm tom kierein. the latest track for hurricane sandy heads off the atlantic sea

board and coming offshore monday and tuesday and stalling to the north. this is the latest track. as a result we have an increasing chance we could have power outages beginning sunday into monday. that is the way it looks right now. the situation for you is that >> and that's your latest weather. >> the president has given the host of late night comedy a lot of for the record including donald trump's $5 million offer to president obama. >> donald trump called -- called president obama and said i'll give you $5 million, $5 million if you can release your college records and your passport, and i said, hey, don, i'll give you $5 million if you release that thing on your head. >> what's this thing with trump and you? it's like me and letterman, what has he got against you here?

i don't get it. >> this all dates back to when we were growing up together in kenya. >> yeah. >> trump, he came back. he said he has a very big announcement about president obama that could cost him the election. yeah. he's going to endorse him. >> you know who is endorsing mitt romney. lindsay lohan. lindsay lohan. and -- and it may seem silly to you, but not to the romney campaign. they are very excited. they think, okay, here's our chance now to get that shoplifter vote. >> what if i forget to vote. >> if you forget? >> yeah. >> well, i have a plan for that, jimmy. >> you do? >> election day, election day, up and at 'em. up and at 'em. it's election day. get your shoes on. move it. >> up, up, up. >> time to vote. you can do it. go and vote. go and vote. out the door. out the door. and eat some carrots.

>> president obama was nice enough to come to our show yesterday, but, yeah, but before -- we weren't the only show he did. before he left los angeles he made another appearance on another show. ♪ >> flying off to do a fund-raiser in nevada. >> get that image out of your head. >> very clever. just ahead the story behind my naturally ride to work this morning, but first this is "today" on nbc. anncr: five hundred and thirty seven.

the number of votes that changed the course of american history. newscaster: florida is too close to call... anncr: the difference between what was... and what could have been. so this year, if you're thinking that your vote doesn't count. that it won't matter. well, back then, there were probably at least 537 people... who felt the same way. make your voice heard. vote. president obama: i'm barack obama and... i approve this message.

. coming up, "today" investigates medicare fraud, hundreds of millions of dollars being ripped off at your expense. >> and we'll crown the winner of our show us your moves competition with a live dance-off on our plaza. get out the disco ball after your local news. what do pumpkins look like? like this. i made a bat.

i made a sword. [ female announcer ] carve out some time with your little pumpkins. happy halloween... from rice krispies. 7:26 on this friday, october 26th. i'm aaron gilchrist. storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein tracking sandy's impact on our region. >> sandy will be felt sunday evening and lingering into wednesday. it's going to stall out as it moves inland. drizzle, fog in the 60s. then the effects sunday into wednesday next week with wind and rain. aaron? >> thank you. a quick note here, president obama taking questions via satellite today from students ant georgetown university. that will air on mtv. tr

good morning. if you are traveling 395 northbound, the ramp to king

street is blocked because of a crash in the area. traveling northbound on 395 to get to the 14th street bridge, you are under speed. teacher: this is west virginia, pennsylvania, delaware. and this is maryland. every year marylanders spend five hundred and fifty million gaming at casinos in these other states. question seven will build a new casino and bring table games to baltimore... generating hundreds of millions for schools. and that money has to go to education. it's the law. so vote for question seven. so we can stop spending all that money here, and keep maryland money in classrooms like mine.

>> what? okay. there he is, and in case you missed it a little bit earlier, that was the grand entrance at the top of our show. matt hanging ten to get to work today, and he got some help with that from some very creative and talented guys we hyped some very eye-catching and popular online videos, videos like a woman walking around with ipads on her head. in fact, we've got natalie trying out that contraption right now. how does this work? we are going to talk to the guys and they will explain matt's little stunt, too. >> i hope they don't erase her.

>> cow buabunga, dude. and we'll have the dancing finalists, show us your moves dance competition. the finalists are in the green room getting ready for their live dance-off before a panel of celebrity judges. >> all right. we look forward to that. just ahead, a major ripoffs of taxpayers. hundreds of millions of dollars drained from the health care system. the crooks often flaunting their ill-gotten gains. "today" investigates coming up. but first online shopping is easy and convenient, and as nbc's chris hansen found out, you can also think of just about anything being available for a certain price. chris, good morning. >> good morning, matt. you know, i've done a lot of stories over 30 years and seen a lot of things. this ranks in the top five. at any given time there are 60 billion posts on craigslist with only 40 employees to monitor them. our investigations found posts offering everything from drugs to human organs, even a hitman. it's a crisp autumn day, and i'm sitting across the table from

someone who is suggesting he's a hitman. >> you want to walk around and talk? >> no, i think we're good. >> and i'm playing along as a potential client of his services. >> i've got a problem with a guy. >> okay. >> and i've got to take care of it. >> okay. >> it feels like a scene from had a movie. >> what are the options? >> what do you want to happen to him? >> well, what can you do? >> i can do anything. >> but he's no actor, and here he is on hidden camera describing what he's willing to do to a potential victim for a fee. >> he can get hurt, hospitalized, a lot of things can happen. >> but this isn't a story about a hitman. it's really a story about where we found him, of all places in the online classifieds. a place where billions of people worldwide come to sell, share and offer services on sites like craigslist and backpage. you can find anything, apartments, cars, furniture,

jobs or even a spouse, but with just a few clicks you can also find some very strange things. a young man offering his kidney for $50,000. >> it wouldn't matter to have two kidneys or one kidney. >> people who sell things online. >> a woman selling a poe temp narcotic. how do you justify this? >> you ask for it. >> it's still illegal. >> this man says he's selling his marijuana delivery business. >> i can do about $800 to $1,000 a day. >> reporter: but it was the hitman that surprised us the most. >> left leg and right elbow. >> right. >> stuff can happen. >> what are we talking about money-wise? >> it depends what if you want done. >> what if i wanted him to disappear in jail, set up. that's no problem. >> how much? >> $5,000. >> 5,000? >> yeah. >> what about disappear disappear. >> that's like 25,000, yeah. >> 25,000. >> yeah, yeah. >> so who is this alleged

hitman. >> i need to know who i'm dealing with, you know, this is our first meeting. >> yeah. >> so -- this is who i am. >> i'll show you who i am. >> i don't need to know who you are. i don't care. >> you may want to know who i am? >> why? >> is it advantageous for me to know who you are? >> i am chris hansen with "dateline" nbc. >> i watch that show all the time. you don't look like him at all? >> no, not at all. not at all. >> well, i am that guy. >> as calm as he seems the conversation then took an interesting turn, and you'll see that tonight, matt. >> that's bizarre, chris. thank you very much. appreciate it. >> and you can see a special "dateline" the wild, wild web at 9:00 p.m., 10:00 central time here on nbc.

>> and good morning from manalapan, florida, at palm beach county at the beach at ritz carlton hotel. big changes coming temperature-wise throughout a good portion of the country, and that may interact with sandy causing some problems. you see today we've got minneapolis at 41. that's 14 degrees below norm a. denver at 38. austin 57. ahead of the system though, burlington, vermont, 70, charleston 78. tomorrow, look at that cold air really streaming n.cincinnati 52. 70 in memphis and 46 minneapolis. the warm air just barely the warm air back along the east coast. there's more reinforcing cold air behind that so that as the low pressure system that was sandy makes its way inland, it could impact ohio and the appalachians with up to a foot of snow. that's what's going on around the country, here's what's happening in your neck of the woods. >> good morning, i'm storm team 4 meteorologist, tom kierein.

the latest track for sandy showing it is going to be near our metro area late sunday and tuesday. it's going to stall out and spin away over pennsylvania after that. now the impacts, the areas in red, they look like the heaviest impacts moving in sunday night and into monday. strong winds, coastal flooding. >> with sandy bearing down on us you might need a little bit of a distraction and that's where sunday night "football night in america" comes in. we've got a good one the new orleans saints and drew brees takes on the denver broncos and peyton manning in colorado. clear, cool, temperatures upper 50s to the low -- upper 40s to the 50s as you wait for sandy on sunday night "football night in america." matt? >> all right. al, thank you very much. coming up next, "today" investigates the alarming ways that some criminals are ripping off the nation's health care

system to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. and pippa middleton steps out at a launch party for her new book. we'll hear from her on its release and her sister's royal wedding, but first, these messages. tully's. how do you always have my favorite coffee? well, inside the brewer, there's a giant staircase. and the room is filled with all these different kinds of coffee and even hot cocoa. and you'll always find your favorite. woman #2: with so many choices, keurig has everyone's favorite. i just press this button. brew what you love, simply. keurig. and there's juicy chicken hellmann's is the secret to making parmesan crusted chicken so juicy so delicious it's your secret to making dinner disappear hellmann's. bring out the best

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back at 7:40. this morning on "today investigates," health care fraud. money stolen out of all of our pockets and the suspects who flaunt it. nbc's tom costello has been looking into this story. tom, good morning to you. >> reporter: hi, savannah. not talking about small time storefront operations that can steal hundreds of thousands of dollars or more. we're talking about suspects who steal tens of millions of dollars, even hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer money, money that's meant to help the poor, retirees, even children with autism. in queens, new york, a pre-dawn raid. federal agents targeting six people accused of ripping off the government's health care system for nearly $12 million. >> good job. >> reporter: more agents from the hhs inspector general's office descend on a medical clinic owned by the suspects, searching room by room for fraudulent billing documents, hidden computer files and stolen

medicare numbers. >> this looks to be like adult day care. >> reporter: investigators say the scheme involved luring senior citizens to the clinic by giving them free meals as well as music, computer and dance lessons all in exchange for their medicare numbers, numbers then allegedly billed for medical services that were never provided, charges the suspect deny. the victims too often are the elderly and disadvantaged. >> they are often victims of identity theft. they are used as pawns in this -- in these schemes to perpetuate medicare fraud for profits. >> reporter: virtually every day in this country federal agents arrest suspects for health care fraud. last year alone agents charged nearly 1,500 people, and the amount of stolen taxpayer dollars is staggering, as much as $60 billion a year. the investigative work can be dangerous, and agents are also relying heavily on data analysis to find suspects before they get away with the money. the health care fraud can take

many different forms. take paul thorson, a danish scientist accused of stealing grant money awarded by the cdc for autism research and now wanted as afugitive. investigators say thorson submitted these phony invoices for expenses, complete with forged cdc official signatures and then had more than $1 million wired into his own bank account. he allegedly used the cash to buy two cars, a $34,000 harley davidson, and this $450,000 home in atlanta. >> it is a travesty. >> reporter: this mother of an autistic child and director of an autism support group. >> when you think of these luxury cars and harley-davidson, are you serious? there's parents out here that probably wish they could afford that stuff but they can't because they are paying for extra therapy for our kids. >> this is one of our missions to prevent diseases and find out more about diseases, and for someone to take crucial dollars

to fund his personal piggy bank to buy his toys with taxpayer dollars, it really upsets me. >> reporter: thorson isn't the only fugitive want ed for taxpayer brothers to live a lavish lifestyle. meet the benitez brothers, accused of stealing $110 million from a medicare fund. they allegedly used this cash to buy this hotel, this helicopter, even their own water park. >> we've certainly seen criminals who have billed the medicare program for millions of dollars, sometimes in the hundreds of millions of dollars over several years, and that money often goes straight into their pocket. >> reporter: just flaunting ill-gotten gains, flaunting their wealth. >> that's right. >> reporter: feds are asking anyone who suspects health care fraud to call their tip line, 1-800-hhs-tips. last year alone, federal law enforcement alone managed to recover $4.5 billion in fines, penalties and restitutions so this is not pocket change.

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recipe for making viral videos. good morning. >> good morning. >> i didn't actually steal that guy's newspaper. he was in on it. talk to me about this company you've created. you make these videos. you hope they go viral, and you do it for clients. how does it work? >> well, what we do is we take a particular concept out of a whole movie or tv show or even a product, narrow it down and make a whole story out of one particular thing that we find very appealing. >> so, are they commercials? they are a hybrid. entertaining marketing videos at the end of which a product or a film is promoted. >> now, a lot of your videos have gone viral, gotten millions of views. are you basically making that guarantee to clients? can you do that? >> i don't think we can. we don't guarantee a view, but what we try to do is there's enough video out there, a baby doing something, dog or cat funny, but we try to be really innovative and want to put it

together in a really entertaining way. that's why it goes viral and people love it. >> we were seeing the one there with people underwater. that was for a watch, right? people come to you and say we want to sell this watch. what can you do with it underwater, is that what it is? >> exactly. we just come up with a really entertaining concept. for instance, the movie "chasing maverick," we came up with the idea which aired, comes out today in theaters did, these surfing videos. >> these gadgets like the one natalie had on her head with the ipad and my surf board and you've got a helmet that actually shaves your head and a popcorn machine that shoots popcorn this your mouth, you've got like a cue from james bond movies that comes up with him. >> we come to him and tell him the craziest ideas so he says i know exactly how to do it. >> it's not camera tricks. that will shoot a piece of popcorn at me if i say pop. >> no special effects. we make it. have a guy who does all our

gizmos, and every time we walk into a door he shakes his head. >> this is a new frontier of advertising is what you're telling us? >> go back, we go back and make -- we're going to build a nightclub on the water and can you go in and go in with breathing helmets. >> i had a blast shooting this. about it at 3:30 in the morning, most of it, here on the streets of new york and you guys couldn't have been more fun to work with. >> the crew started calling you mad matt, pretty outrageous. >> can you imagine surfing the streets later on when it gets more busy. >> don't try, that by the way, it's not legal. >> james and michael, thank you so much. while we're talking about viral video, we're launching a new series, examining the most memorable videos of the week. vote for your favorite. first, the elevator prank that left riders terrified.

>> oh. >> that shows you how realistic the picture is on an lg video monitor. >> very good. >> that's the first video. the second one is called the one that got away. the tv reporter who fell on to a man's lap when a fish freaked her out. >> what happened next? >> thank goodness for blurring. that will get a lot of votes. >> how to pick up a girl at a gym. a weight lifter taking a very literal approach. the dismount is important. >> what he does to her at the end. watch how he released. the release here. >> i don't think he got a date out of that. >> and finally the father who went "gangnam style," a light show using 8,500 bubbles, synced up, by the way.

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7:55 is the time now. good morning to you. i'm eun yang. power companies are on alert in our area. virginia is stocking trucks with supplies and monitoring the forecast. pepco contractors are on a freeze mode, meaning they are not allowed to travel. more than 1,000 crews are on stand by. storm team 4 meteorologist, tom kierein has more. good morning. >> we are getting the latest updates. the path looks like it's going to come very close to the d.c. metro area. the first effects felt sunday evening. some of the strongest winds monday into tuesday. it's mostly a wind storm and a lot of heavy rain. the wind, unfortunately, may cause tree limbs to come down, bringing down power lines. no power beginning monday through much of the week.

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it's 8:00 now on a friday morning. it's the 26th day of october, 2012. move the chairs, pull the carpet back and get your moves ready. we're throwing a dance party on rockefeller plaza. we're got our finalists from our show us your moves competition, and they are about to compete for the grand prize. what is the grand prize, by the way? >> you know what? i think it's a trophy. >> okay. >> and a trip to new york. that's not too bad. >> celebrity judgments. we're going to be taking a look at hair work in just a little while, and we'll get to them in a couple of minutes. i'm matt lauer along with savannah guthrie. a busy morning here. >> we do. just ahead, we'll talk about pippa middleton, a new book out. out at a book party to celebrate

it last night, and she does admit she's a little bit nervous about all of this attention. she should get used to it. we'll talk to her just ahead. >> remember obie the dog that's way, way too heavy. this dog weighed twice the normal weight. now there is a lawsuit involving the dog, a custody dispute. one owner suing another ownerch we'll fill you in on that. >> all right. by the way, next week, halloween. we have a huge party planned hoping nobody rains on our parade, hurricane sandy. we'll have a costume party on the plaza. we're getting dressed up. we'll have celebrity surprises, and speaking of halloween, there was a prank that caught our eye. we want to take a look. >> a-choo! >> agh, agh! that's good. that's so good. >> how did he do that? >> i have no idea.

>> that is rich ferguson from san luis obispo. he calls it an illusion. >> he's double jointed. >> bless you, gesundheit. >> anyways, don't forget to dress up. get down here next wednesday. we'll have a good time. let's go inside. natalie standing by with a check of the headlines. >> good morning, everyone. tropical storm watches and warnings are posted from florida to the carolinas as the east coast braces for a monster storm. the approach of hurricane sandy is already churning up the florida surf and causing a run on emergency supplies as residents prepare for powerful winds and heavy rain. sandy's already blamed for more than 20 deaths throughout the caribbean. an emotional reunion between the pakistani schoolgirl shot in the head by the taliban and her family. the father, mother and two brothers of malala yousafzai arrived at the british hospital where she was flown for special treatment and have been at her bedside since last night. the 15-year-old was targeted earlier this month for

advocating girls education in pakistan. doctors say it does not appear she suffered significant brain damage, and ma lav lala's father says she is responding well. to earnings news likely to affect wall street. courtney reagan is at the cnbc stock exchange. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, natalie, wall street preparing for another difficult tech wreck including a rare miss from apple. ipad sales and the holiday forecast following short of wall street expectations and amazon reporting its first quarterly loss in nearly a decade. now elsewhere, investors will be looking to economic data to guide their decisions today, including the first read on u.s. economic growth in the third quarter. natalie? >> courtney reagan at the new york stock exchange, thank you. and now for a look at what is trending today. our quick roundup of what has you talking online. a custody fight over obie, the obese daschund is a top yahoo! search. the dog's appearances have

included right here at the "today" show but the oregon group that rescued him from the elderly owners says the pudgy pooch is a dog, not a celebrity. they filed a lawsuit demanding the foster caretaker return him to the view. barbara walters scolding of trump getting lots of attention online. take a listen. >> you and i have known each other for many years, and you know that i am your friend, and i think you are a brilliant businessman and you are great on television and you have a fascinating personality. donald, you're making a fool of yourself. you're not hurting obama. you're hurting donald and that hurts me because you're a decent man. >> well, donald trump later tweet that had barbara missed the entire point of his announcement. and today.com is where you can see this all over again. how matt got to work this morning, a little late, mind

you, on a motorized surf board dodging waves and potholes along the way. it was inspired by viral video artists also jen rate a lot of buzz online. surf's up, hang ten, very sweet ride. good way to commute to work. 8:05 right now. back outside to matt. he had some moves there. >> i'm not sure i would recommend it as a great way to commute to work. thank you, natalie. let's go to al down in florida in advance of that storm sandy that we're keeping our eye on. >> matt, you might want to bring that surf board down here. you'd get some real use out of it. but we're warning people not to go into the surf. dangerous rip tides, reports of buoys and 20-foot seas. here's the latest onsandy. 210 miles east-northeast of miami, florida. 80-mile-per-hour winds, moving northwest at 10 miles per hour. hurricane watches and warnings.

it is starting to develop and show quite a bit of potential as we look, you can see hurricane watches all the way up into the carolinas. all the way up to the carolinas. the problem is, what we are seeing now is the path of the storm. the path, according to the national hurricane center brings it along the coast, parallels the coast and eventually makes land fall around the northeast, right around new york sometime wednesday. the european model, the one that's been more accurate brings it around the delmarva peninsula. this is the tale of two paths. which one it takes will determine how much destruction we see. here's what's happening in your neck of the woods. >> good morning, the latest on sandy, just updating. the latest track taking it, it looks like north of washington. it could track anywhere in the zone of possibility. we are near it, near the middle

of it, no matter what area it tracks through in the zone. it is going to affect us. today, low clouds this morning. we are hovering in the low to mid-60s. fog around. cloudy tomorrow. the effects of sandy with wind >> and that's your latest weather. matt? >> all right, al. thank you very much. when we come backs, pippa middleton celebrates the release of her new book. we'll find out more about that and our live dance-off on the plaza. but first these messages. ♪ this is the car that loves to have fun ♪ ♪ it's got something for everyone ♪ ♪ the car of the future many have said ♪ ♪ 'cause at the pump it's miles ahead ♪ ♪ let's hum, hum, hum, hum ♪ let's hum ♪ a prius for everyone ♪ the perfect match, electric and gas ♪ ♪ mile after mile its tank could last ♪ ♪ we made three more for all to use ♪ ♪ big, small, and plug in, it's yours to choose ♪ ♪ and let's hum, hum, hum, hum, let's hum ♪ ♪ a prius for everyone

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back now at 89. 11. kate may be the future queen, but her sister pippa middleton was queen for a day on thursday. her first book on entertaining was released in britain, and fittingly she hosted two parties last night. nbc's michelle kosinksi is in london with more. michelle, good morning. >> reporter: hi, savannah, right, finally got her own day in the spotlight and reportedly wrote this book entirely herself. it weighs three and a half pound, 400 pages, and you know everyone was going to scrutinize, it so everything surrounding it has been extremely carefully done. you've rarely heard her utter a word. >> what can i do with this. >> i reckon that could be a hat maybe. >> reporter: here the party was all pippa. >> amazing. >> reporter: natural around the

children, never fawning. it was like a page from her bourque "celebrate" featuring many of the pretty do-it-yourself celebrations and games. >> oh, no. mess everywhere. >> reporter: not always easy for adults. >> can't do it. >> reporter: the kids really did seem to eat up these ideas, though twice pippa was subjected to some unwitting naughtiness. >> i hate princesses. >> reporter: a tough crowd but pippa handled it. later she didn't quite know what to do in front of all of the cameras and to many that's refreshing. >> really, really nervous but it's a bit exciting, and i feel really excited to launch the book. >> reporter: it's been a couple of years since her sister's we had and when asked about memories of it just said -- >> crazy. >> reporter: but she did it, a book of very simple and sweet

holiday party ideas that is also a visual feat, zero glitz and glamour, more cotton than wool. instead of the fascinator at the society wedding, sparklers in the backyard, construction paper. and in america where her book is expected to sell the best, "parade" magazine bid for a preview with a skeptical cry but were so won over she put her on this week's cover. >> charmed by it. we thought it looked wonderful. there is an opportunity for someone, whether it's pippa or somebody else, to be a martha stewart for a new generation. >> reporter: starting with the basics, bop for apples, tell a story, help guests relax. >> i think that there's something very charming about -- about the accessibility of it. pippa's been sort of known as a party girl, and when you look at the book, oh, this is a completely different type of party, and you definitely would want an invitation. >> reporter: there are critics. the "the new york post" called it a bum-mer saying the bowling

pins filled with gravel and nothing lines up a grade school event like ten paint bombs with a surprisy schrapnel inside. >> it's not easy to throw a party. it takes something to do it well and to enjoy doing it and that's what you walk away with. she enjoys this. this is actually a passion for her. >> oh, yes. >> reporter: kate, by the way, did not attend the launch party last night. the book is available in the u.s. on october 30th. savannah. >> all right, michelle kosinksi, thank you. coming up next, get ready to dance. our five finalists show us their moves in a live dance-off on the plaza. see you after this. this happy couple used capital one venture miles

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is made with fresh milk. ♪ and where clothing is optional. nespresso. what else? ♪ we're back now with the culmination of "show us your moves." when we announced this competition a short time ago, we had no idea what to expect. >> but you really came through for us. we got some great entries. they made us laugh. they made us smile. they made us cheer, and in a minute we'll have our five finalists in a live dance-off here on the plaza, but first a look at some of the many videos you sent in. ♪ shaking it up just about anywhere, this is not your average dance floor. >> shake that. >> along with a range of style, from iconic moves like michael.

>> to the current pop hot "gangnam style." ♪ >> some moves stood out for originality. >> oh, those floors look so clean. >> age was never a factor. everyone got in the act. and in the end you showed us your moves today. all right. now let's meet our panel of distinguished judges. first one you know for sure. debbie allen from the show "fame," aboard winning dector and choreographer, and she's working out on a big gala out in california on november 1st. >> debbie, good to have you here. the second judge the singer ciara. it's her second single off "one-woman army" and christina

black, she performs dances by the nation's hottest coreographers. >> without further ado. first contestant, what's your name? >> jojo. >> where are you from? >> california. >> ready to dance? >> take it away. ♪ ♪ >> okay. as he continues to dance, debbie allen, what do you think of his moves? >> he's a real beat boy. he's very amazing and incredibly gifted and so athletic. look at that. >> all right. that's a good review. we like that.

jojo, thank you very much. we appreciate it. ladies and gentlemen, jojo. >> all right. >> our next competitor is 9-year-old alexa, and alexa has been dancing since the age of 3. she was inspired by watching her cousin dance on stage. alexa, are you ready? >> yeah. >> okay. ladies and gentlemen, here's alexa. ♪ ♪ >> ciara, what do you think? >> she's amazing. her passion and everything. i'm really able to feel her

dancing. >> alexa, thank you very much. give her a hand. >> let's meet our third competitor from michigan, 48-year-old mom kim walters. we know her around here as pajama mom. get ready. you'll be inspired, of course, as you say by tina turner, a former cruise ship director. are you ready to dance? >> yes, i am. >> take it away. ♪ ♪ >> all right. let's ask our brooklynette, what do you think? >> incredible.

you can tell that she loves to dance. >> you think she's got what it takes? christina? >> she's got what it takes. she's got the spirit. >> got the energy. >> all right. >> thank you so much. next up is 7 years jayce butler, his moves inspired by the one and only chris brown. are you ready to go? ladies and gentlemen, here's jayce. ♪

♪ >> all right. jayce, thank you very much. ladies and gentlemen, give a round of applause. >> all right. all right, and our last competitor is 35-year-old ephraim, dancing since the '80s, inspired by mc hammer. all right, go get 'em. ♪ ♪

>> all right. ladies and gentlemen, give it up for ephraim. >> wow, he's kind of working the referees for a moment there. >> okay. >> all right. so why don't we do this. you guys start talking amongst yourselves, and then what we'll do is we'll introduce the winner of show us your moves in our 8:30 open, okay, but overall, the five competitors you give? >> you like what you see? >> oh, yeah, you know. 1-10, everybody's like an 8. >> okay. >> that's good. >> but you'll have to pick a winner, so we'll find out who that is in a few minutes right after this.

8:26 is your time now on this friday. i'm eun yang. storm team 4 is tracking hurricane sandy's potential impact here in the d.c. region. here is tom kierein. tom? >> here is the latest track on sandy. it does continue on a very similar track we have seen earlier this morning. it's not good. it looks like it's very near the metro area beginning late on sunday and stalling out as it gets inland. wind and rain sunday evening into tuesday. stay tuned. >> thank you. president obama will take questions via satellite from students at georgetown university today. unive[ male announcer ] if barack obama is re-elected,

what will the next four years be like? one: the debt will grow from $16 trillion to $20 trillion. two: 20 million americans could lose their employer-based health care. three: taxes on the middle class will go up by $4,000. four: energy prices will continue to go up. and five: $716 billion in medicare cuts that hurt current seniors. five reasons we can't afford four more years of barack obama. i'm mitt romney and i approve this message. good morning. taking the beltway in prince george's county, sees delays from central avenue to route 506789 let's head to the beltway in virginia.

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♪ 8:30 now on a friday morning, and that was the scene on our plaza just a few minutes ago, an epicthrowdown on the dance floor. five finalists flown in from around the country competing for the title of best dancer in our "show us your moves today" contest and without any further ado our panel of celebrity judges have conferred. >> before we announce the winner let's hear it for all our

contestants. >> fantastic. >> so miss allen, why don't you be the spokesperson for our panel. there was some dissent. >> there was some dissent. this was a very difficult decision. all of you bring such a spirit of the dance that we love so much, but we did have a choose. that was our job today, and so we have come up with a winner, and the winner is ephraim. >> yeah! >> ephraim, congratulations. >> this is your son, right? >> are you proud of your dad? >> turn this way so we can see you. can you move like your dad? >> better. >> oh, better. >> that's a throwdown. how does it feel? >> we've got some music, you want to try some. go ahead. >> show us your moves. let's see what you can do, too. >> we've got some sirens, that helps.

>> wow. >> oh, my. ♪ >> oh, my goodness, wow. >> ephraim, you're not only a good dancer, but you're a good teacher, too, man, fantastic. first of all. there you go. there's the trophy. >> good job. >> excellent. >> congratulations to you. we want to thank all of our contestants. really, really wonderful. >> we warrant to thank our judges, too. debbie, christina and ciara for their participation. thank you very much. >> great job, everybody. >> get a check of the weather. mr. roker is down in florida. al? >> hey, matt, as you can see, the skies are really angry here.

this is all with hurricane sandy going off here and heading up towards the north. meantime, let's look at what your weekend looks like,nd look. starting off with saturday, we are looking at sandy causing problems. going to be very cold in the great lakes and into the plains. snow showers there, wet weather with mountain snows in the pacific northwest. sunday, sunday, look for heavy rainmaking its way into the mid-atlantic. we are looking atmore rain and mountain snows in the pacific northwest. sunny and warm in the southwest. the sunshine continues. sunshine returns in florida within the next 48 hours. that's what's going on around the country. here's what's happening in your neck of the woods. >> good morning. it is a category 1 hurricane with 80-mile-per-hour winds. the latest updated forecast came in 30 minutes ago showing still, unfortunately, the track coming very close to the washington metro area as a category 1

hurricane initially along the delaware bay or the delaware coastline beginning the effects late sunday and into next week. today and tomorrow, cloudy. highs near 70. patchy fog this morning. >> and that's your latest weather. matt? >> all right, al, thank you so much for your reporting from down there this more. when we come back, we'll have today's "take 3" and so much more ahead. but, first, this is "today" on nbc.

back now at 8:36. the deadly for early division at many universities is less than a week away. what do you need to impress the college of your choice? here with the inside scoop, ted spencer, executive director of undergraduate admissions at the university of michigan, ellen kim, the director of undergraduate admissions at johns hopkins and the vice provost for enrollment and dean of admissions at vanderbilt university. good morning to all of you.

bottom line, a very distinguished panel here this morning. >> good morning, savannah. >> great questions that our viewers sent in, but let's start with the basic question to you, ellen what. has changed in the last oh, i guess 20 years or so when a lot of parents were applying to college and now? >> i guess the biggest difference is the amount of information that's accessible to students. i think a lot of universities have put a lot of information online on their websites and hold a lot of events across the country so information can be very successful now without even having to make the visit to campus. >> there's so many students, and i think what most kids want to know, and i'll put this to you, doug, what to do to really make the application stand out. >> i think the best information i would give is to be authentic and describe who you are and let us understand what you want. don't write to us and tell us who you are because we're building a community, not filling classroom. >> talking about the dreaded essay, of course. the point you is want to make it personal. can you tell when it's been overedited or adults have maybe even written it? >> yeah.

a lot of times, particularly when the adults sign the application, you know -- >> does that really happen? >> that happens sometimes. it feels a little bit more packaged. it's not about the students so much when someone else is writing it. we don't hear their voice. we don't understand what makes them tick and that's what we're looking for. >> can you forgive something a little less than polished if you feel it's authentic? >> i think you can. i think at times, you know, it's an individual review. you look at everything, and you say, well, where does this fit in the whole package of the application? >> ellen, what are you looking for when you look at transcript, it's not just grades. >> right. so we're looking at the types of classes this person has taken over the course of high school. want to see the student challenged themselves and looking at performance as well and underlying all of that i think what we're really thinking about is what type of student that they are. >> and a lot of kids really involve themselves in a ton of extracurricular activities. is it a competition, is it a numbers game, how many you do? >> no. i would really say it's more important to be in two or three

or four and be transformative and have made a difference, not the requisite i'm a junior, i better get in 20 clubs. can you see right through that. >> exactly. >> it's the persistence, the passion and the leadership, the reasons why they are joining that's more important to us than the laundry list. >> so many students understandably freak out over the s.a.t.s and the a.c.t.s. how much does that score matter, be honest? >> ellen. it does matter. we ask for it and we'll ask for it and take it into consideration. it doesn't matter as much as students think it does. we're overall looking at the whole of the academic profile, not just that one number. >> it complements the transcript. in other words, it's a part of the whole many factors that we look at, but it's not the one and most important thing. it's a holistic review, test scores, transcript, extracurricular activities. all of those things so the test scores have one weight. it means if you're applying to a competitive school, it's

important. >> one of the reasons we're having this conversation now is because it is early decision, early action time, and for those who aren't familiar with the concept, doug, i'll let you explain what this is. >> early decision is the ability where a student can choose the school they are really wanting to go to and actually in early decision have a binding contract with the school, the high school counsellor and university all agree and that's where that student is going to end up and must e if they are admitted and selected. >> so you have to really be devoted to that school because you're making a promise. >> that's right, for early decision and then there's early action. we confuse parents and students all the time. >> i'm confused. >> and it varies. that's why students should go to the website and look at every college, the information about how to get in, but the early action is not binding, that's the major difference. if you want to go to the school and want to be admitted early apply early action. >> okay. read the rules. let's get to our high-tech fishbowl. we've got viewer questions. amy from north carolina. should i hire a college coach

for my child? this is all the rage in this part of the country. who wants to take that one? >> ellen. sure, we recognize that sometimes students are at schools where maybe they don't have as much access to their high school counselors, and i think sometimes a little outside help can be helpful in those circumstances, but at the end of the day we encourage students to take ownership over the process themselves because the application should be a representation of who they are >> we want to make sure they are not too pre-packaged, back to your original question. >> counselors are great, best people that can advise and assess a student's ability to get into college. >> tammy wants to know. how would you feel about a candidate submitting a home video of themselves with their application, oh, boy? that could be a pitiful. >> we had a situation like that at the university of michigan, admitted this wonderful person who submitted a home video about why he wanted to come to michigan and used the michael jackson theme, give me one more chance.

>> did he get in? >> he got in. let me say this. we see tons of things like that every year. we don't admit people based on those kinds of things. >> okay. >> if you stand out, if it really makes a difference, it may be considered. most cases it doesn't matter. >> okay. let me try to get to one more. sarah, another one from north carolina. how much weight is given to playing a team sport in high school? >> i think the question on playing a team sport, whether it's a team sport, debate or whatever, the question is did you make a difference and did you stick with it for a long period of time? >> okay. >> we've got nancy from california, real quick on this. we've been told it's helpful to make multiple contacts with the university of your dream, campus tours, visits, et cetera, does it really help? >> demonstrated interest is important but don't stalk. >> keep within 50 feet. you guys are great. good to have you here. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> sending you home with this fishbowl. coming up next, a mu

much-needed makeover for the animals at the grand reopening of the history of natural museum. but first this is "today" on nbc. ike leggett: gaming generated one hundred and eighty... million dollars for maryland schools. question seven will double it. rushern baker: question seven will add table games and... a new casino, generating millions of dollars... every year, without raising taxes. leggett: and audits will ensure the money goes... where it's supposed to. more jobs, and millions for schools. baker: question seven will be good for our kids...

our teachers, and our schools. leggett: keep maryland money in maryland. baker: please vote for question seven. leggett: vote for question seven. prand you're seeing that rightno quit in amnow.a... over five million new jobs. exports up forty one percent. home values... rising. our auto industry... back. and our heroes are coming home. we're not there yet, but we've made real progress and the... last thing we should do is turn back now. here's my plan for the next four years: making education and training a national priority; building on our manufacturing boom; boosting american-made energy; reducing the deficits responsibly by cutting where... we can, and asking the wealthy to pay a little more. and ending the war in afghanistan, so we can... do some nation-building here at home. that's the right path. so read my plan, compare it to governor romney's... and decide which is better for you. it's an honor to be your president...

and i'm asking for your vote... so together, we can keep moving america forward. i'm barack obama and i approve this message. the american museum of natural history is a very big draw in new york city, but the wear and tear of time left some of its most famous exhibits in need of a little repair. nbc's katy tur at at the museum where they are getting ready for a grand opening this weekend. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, matt. thousands of people visit this museum every day and as you say the big draw is the north american hall of mammals where even in the 3-d imax world the displays still manage to lure you in. that being said been 70 years since the first display opened up. as anyone can attest time stops for no man or frozen animal, for that matter. it's not every day you see someone fluffing up a buffalo's hair or redyeing the coat of an

eight-foot tall alaskan brown bear, but when faced with touching up the wild, it certainly does help if the animals are stuffed. inside these dioramas at the american museum of natural history, restorers got a chance to work in a world sealed off since the '40s, but while the animals stood still, time did not. >> how faded were the bison? they are a deep rich brown right now, a caramel brown. what color when they before? >> about like your hair. >> reporter: exhibit lighting also faded the once lustrous fur of the jack rabbit, bleached the eye of the mountain goat and left the cougar looking a little tired. the hall was conceived in the 1930s, meant to give people a chance to explore the wild of north america, right smack in the middle of the concrete wild of new york city. famous for iconic scenes in books like "catcher in the rye" an movies like "night at the museum." it's where childhood dreams come to life with that magical feeling of seeing something

you're not supposed to see so close, so life-like. each animal started with a real skelton covered with exact molds of muscles and finished off with real fur. they are hailed as the greatest examples of taxidermy in the world, but even greatness needs some tlc. >> it was just a general look of neglect, so what the museum decided to do was to find a way to bring them back, to make them look as beautiful as they did when they were first installed. >> reporter: so they took out fish, replaced the mountain lion's whiskers and cozied up to the wolves bringing life back to the majestic creatures and magic back to the museum. grand opening saturday, coinciding with the 154th birthday of the father of conservationism and the most popular guy around the museum. >> theodore roosevelt, 26th president of these united states of america at your service. >> i'm not sure of any other presidents who have been a scientist in the way that

theodore roosevelt was. you're seeing many of the places in north america and many of the species that he wanted to protect. >> that might be it. >> moments frozen in time and preserved for generations to come. no doubt teddy would be proud. now the hall has been partially closed off for about a year and a half. the grand opening is tomorrow with a very big celebration. matt, it's your chance to come back here and see if it's as magical as you remember it when you were a kid. >> i've been there a lot. one of the rainy day favorites in new york city. thanks very much. appreciate the report. still ahead, how hold is too old to go trick-or-treating? that's the big question. up next the olympic ice dancing team of merrill davis and charlie weis on the rink. that's anncr: seven-hundred-thousand jobs. that's what the plan george allen supports... would cost our economy. newspapers called it "economically destructive." like allen's votes to give tax breaks to companies...

that ship jobs overseas, his economic plan would... help big corporations, devastating the middle class. allen even voted against tax breaks for small businesses. virginia can't afford to go back to george allen. the democratic senatorial campaign committee... is responsible for the content of this advertising. in virginia, we know education means opportunity. that's why tim kaine expanded pre-k... championed higher ed and job training... helping make virginia "the best state to raise a child." but george allen has not made our kids a priority.

as governor, he tried to cut funding for public schools. in washington, allen voted to end tax deductions for college tuition. and now, a budget plan that devastates k-12 classrooms-- all to pay for even more tax breaks for the wealthy. seiu cope is responsible for the content of this ad. this morning on "today at the rink," meryl davis and charlie white, the ice dancing duo burst on the scene in the world stage in 2010 winning the silver medal at the winter olympic games in vancouver. two years later they have won ten straight grand prix events, including skate america just this past weekend. meryl and charlie, great to have you guys here. >> thanks for having us. >> you guys are crushing the competition. as i mentioned, you just won skate america. anything less than first right now unacceptable to you? >> yeah. we're obviously really aiming for first, and, you know, heading into sochi in 15 months,

definitely looking for an olympic gold medal. >> how much of the preparation now is getting ready for sochi? >> well, you know, this season is different from the olympic year, but it's still a big part of getting ready. so we're going to be looking to win worlds this year. >> when are worlds? >> it will be in the early spring in lake ontario, actually. >> fun. >> so pretty close to home. >> you guys meanwhile have a really interesting project coming up, classroom, skating -- >> classroom champions. >> what does that involve? >> a project started by an olympian in 2010, and it's a project that combines education with athletics, and so it's olympians and paralympians supporting classrooms around the country. >> great. >> yeah. >> all right. well, good luck, guys, as you get into your places now. i'll let everyone know that you'll be skating to the music of johan strauss. go ahead and take your positions and take it away.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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♪ ♪ [ cheers and applause ] >> meryl davis and charlie white, thank you. go the me into the olympic spirit. >> i believe it does. >> much more ahead, but before your local news, a look back at week that was here on "today." >> is governor romney trying to portray someone? >> i wouldn't say that. >> despite what he said in the past? >> if you look at recent polls, mr. vice president, they are tightening considerably. >> one thing i've tried to always be is just steady in terms of what i believe in. >> live from studio 1a in

rockefeller plaza. >> mr. tony bennett, the legend. ♪ the best is yet to come ♪ and baby, won't that be fine ♪ sweet caroline >> so good, so good, so good. >> the cookie monster. >> taking a walk on the wild si side. >> winning nfl coach. >> how you doing there, person? >> do it, do it. >> party girl nicole "snooki" polizzi and her fiance jionni lavalle. >> thank you, dr. oz. your wisdom knows no bounds. ♪

8:56 on this friday. metro is gearing up for the heavy rain and flooding from hurricane sandy. crews will put sandbags around the system where high water is possible. they are checking drains and pumping stations. personnel expected to work through the storm. tom kierein is here with more on what to expect in terms of the

first signs of sandy, tom? >> it's getting closer to the metro area than yesterday. unfortunately, beginning sunday into monday/tuesday, late sunday in the evening hours and into monday and tuesday is when we'll likely have wind anncr: which do you believe? what mitt romney's tv ads say about women? or what mitt romney himself says? mitt romney: do i believe the supreme court... should overturn roe v. wade? yes. and it would be my preference that they, that they... reverse roe v. wade. hopefully reverse roe v. wade. overturn roe v. wade. planned parenthood, we're going to get rid of that. i'll cut off funding to planned parenthood. anncr: no matter what mitt romney's ads say. we know what he'll do. president obama: i'm barack obama and... i approve this message. we were told to build a 30-foot stage. gathered the guys and we built that 30-foot stage, not knowing what it was for. just days later, all three shifts were told to assemble in the warehouse.

a group of people walked out on that stage and told us that the plant is now closed and all of you are fired... i looked both ways, i looked at the crowd, and...we all just lost our jobs. we don't have an income. mitt romney made over 100 million dollars by shutting down our plant and devastated our lives. turns out that when we built that stage, it was like building my own coffin, and it just made me sick. [ male announcer ] priorities usa action is responsible for the content of this advertising.

good morning. traveling in our area, seeing delays this friday morning. not so bad on 50 inbound. under speed at 29 miles per hour to get from the beltway to 295. that drive will take you 11 minutes. the outer loop looking better. outer loop speeds, you are under speed at 40 miles per hour. aaron, back to you. >> thanks.

we're back now with more of "today" on a friday morning. it's the 26th day of october. it's 2012. it's cloudy here in new york, but we're going to have a pretty nice weekend in the northeast until sometime on sunday. then we start to watch out for hurricane sandy making her way up the east coast, and this could be a big damaging storm for millions of people in america. we'll keep a close eye on it. i'm matt lauer along with savannah guthrie. >> coming up, a couple of people are helping us out with "take 3," billy bush and kit hoover from "access hollywood live." set the gold standard in witty banter, and they are going to join our window seat coming up.

>> really. >> did you just use the word billy bush and witty in the same sentence? >> i certainly used it. do you object? >> no, no, i agree. we'll take a tour of homes around the country. wait until you see what you can get for under $300,000. we'll show you around. >> all right. then we'll have the hot headlines from the world of hollywood, including a free concert from katy perry and news from taylor swift perhaps. we'll get into all of that. >> let's go inside. natalie's got the headlines. >> good morning again, matt and savannah. good morning, everyone. the east coast is preparing for a monster storm that could devastate the region with flooding, gale force wind and major por outages. residents in new england are taking precaution buying generators and supplies such as extra water. hurricane sandy battered the caribbean on thursday killing at least 21 people. elev 11 of them in cuba. president obama and governor

romney are vying for votes in crucial swing states with the president sitting for interviews with local tv stations and governor romney in ohio. the president has a narrow edge 50-47 in the swing state of nevada. police say a new york city nanny used a kitchen knife to kill two young children in her care before stabbing herself. the children's mother had taken her 3-year-old daughter to a swim lesson. then came home to make the grim discovery. the nanny is hospitalized in critical condition. police have not commented on a possible motive. more client names are expected to be released today in the so-called supprostitution r in maine. they are set to release more than 20 alleged johns who hired the zumba instructor for sex. she has pled not guilty in the

case. lava is now erupting from two different craters in hawaii. lava could be soon seen from the observation deck. and leave it to the royals to know how to throw a party and prince william's sister-in-law pippa didn't disappoint. she was the center of attention at a book barb for her new party planning book, "celebrate." the halloween-themed party was complete with kids, candy apples and fun finger foods. despite being the most famous maid of honor to older sister kate last year, pippa said this event made her very nervous. three minutes after the hour. let's go back to al who is in florida once again. hey there, al. >> hey there, natalie, and yes, we are watching sandy as it makes its way here in palm beach, florida. you can see the seas are awfully angry. we have rain moving in and out of the area. it's going to continue this way for the next 24 hours. late on sandy, 210 miles

east-northeast of miami, florida. it's got 80 miles per hour winds. it's moving northwest at 10 miles per hour. here is what we are looking for as far as watches and warnings. we are looking at tropical storm warnings from ocean reach, florida to flagler beach. then we have tropical storm watches all the way up into the carolinas. that's going to continue for the next at least 24 hours. the path of the storm will make its way along the east coast, paralleling the coast and eventually by around tuesday night come inland to the northeast. that's the national hurricane center plot. there are two other models we look at, the gfs, the american model and the european model. the european model brings the storm, hurricane sandy, on shore a day earlier and about 200

miles south of where the other two bring it in. that would come into the delmarva peninsula. if this system moves further to the north, it will be big, big trouble, catastrophic events for the northeast, new york and new england. we have to continue to monitor it. that's what's going on around the country. here's what's happening in your neck of the woods. >> good morning. i'm tom kierein. the close up view showing yes, the official hurricane forecast track is taking it to the cape as a category 1 storm tuesday. it could come in earlier. either way, it could track in the zone. we are in the zone. exact track in the land fall makes that much of a difference. cloudy, around >> and that's your latest weather. savannah? >> all right, al. thank you. time for today's "take 3" where we give our take on the three stories that caught our attention and yours, though it's usually four, and we're joined

by billy bush and kit hoover of "access hollywood" fame. >> like a bunch of skittles. >> very colorful. >> i've insisted that other males be allowed. no matt lauer and i myself sent al roker to florida. >> and created a hurricane. >> i just love in the window seat. i watch y'all and say we made it to the window seat. i remember looking outside. security, let me in here. >> let's going on our takes. have you to give your opinion on this one. take one, what's in a name? you've been reporting jessica biel, now soon to be changing her last name and justin timberlake have wed, but now she's also taking her last name. she wants to be known as jessica timberlake and according to her my professional name will be the same but for life, yes, i think it sounds great. i think i really won the jackpot

of names, jessica timberlake, a great ring to it, and the question is are you all traditionalists? what's in a name? do you take the name? >> you have a whole career. >> profession. >> she's keeping biel professionally but in personal life, jessica timberlake. i love the name. i'm a traditional girl. before i met my husband, i thought kit pitt had a great ring to it. >> remember when you're in the seventh grade, writing it out, with hearts all around it. >> and life takes over and you get more practical sometimes so i keep my maiden name on air and my married name sullivan. >> timberlake is a great name. >> it is a great name. >> if it's that good. >> schmuckler. >> biel is not that bad. >> schmuckler. >> a huge career on her last name, a whole profession of her own as well so she will definitely keep that professionly. a lot of us can certainly when you're in that position you do

want to keep that and have your own thing, and then you go home and be mrs. timberlake >> i think it is getting less common for women to take their husband's names. a lot of friends who are married and kept their maiden names and when you have kids what do you do? do you give them the dad's name or the hyphen ing. >> they take the dad's name. >> the family name, the unit. >> this will get me in trouble with people, i'm sure. not a hyphen guy. >> out in l.a., aren't they like merging names, like husbands and wives. >> they combine them and create a new name. >> we'll mix it up out there. >> i'm glad jessica terrible la -- timberlake is doing this. >> take a look at this world's car commercial, only commercial aimed exclusively at women, this is going to be released. >> when is this called? >> the fitszis.

>> coming in pink, brown and white to mimic popular eye shadows. in all seriousness it has a special windshield, cuts 99% of all ultraviolet rays to help prevent wrinkles. talk to me, baby and plasma cluster technology in its ac system which improves skin quality. >> and some people are offended by this. i sound those features sound pretty good. >> who is this for? >> this has to be the young 20 something. >> i think so. i just want the extra cup holders. i could care less about uv ray windshield. >> why can't men have nice skin, too? i want to have nice skin. >> you have beautiful skin. >> if you're blowing out plasma cluster technology. >> i want to see you pulling up in burbank with a matter kay pink car. >> don't people get irritated when things are marketed to women whether it's a laptop or whether it's a car, that it's

always pink and always has the frilly little touches, but personally i like the frilly little touches. >> women like a big watch, don't you? >> i like a big watch. >> to wear for us. >> i think we can all have the same thing. 1950s, dodge did the dodge la femme, a bad idea. >> the car technology vote it had the worst car ever. >> and in 2000 there was a washer and dryer in the back of a minivan. >> come on. >> that offends me. >> can't go anywhere without your appliances. >> pink washer and dryer, then we'd be okay with that. >> i think it's the marketing. i used to have a honda cr-v. i think they designed it with women in mind because there's a great spot to put your purse. i hate putting the purse in the front seat and somebody gets in, excuse my purse and then you've got to throw it in the back. >> why can't we have the murse, the man purse? >> you can. >> where do you put mine? >> stop dividing us, we're all together. >> what's in your murse? >> don't get him started.

>> my phone, computer. my hairspray. >> got great hair. >> my hair centerpiece. >> all right. here we go. >> how old is too old to go trick-or-treating? this is pretty obvious, right. >> billy, you're to old. >> just telling. >> you anything worse than the guy who shows up at the door and got just a mask and a giant bag and opens the candy. >> he's 40. >> and smoking. >> not too old if you're in costume. the big teenager that has like nothing on and the big bag. >> there are some towns apparently, bellville, indiana or -- yeah. >> where they ban it? >> where they are banning it. >> there is an age limit. legal limit, eighth grade is the last year they can trick-or-treat. >> did a poll on our website. >> i would agree 11-13 46%. i see a lot of teenagers coming around. >> if an 18-year-old kid comes around and gets an unbelievably cool costume he gets candy.

mailing it in, no. >> eighth grade is too long? >> they can't put the ban in indiana, eighth grade, still into it. >> did you guys trick-or-treat in high school with your pals and dress up? >> i was a little more destrt you have on that night. liked toilet paper bombs. >> that was only if you got the bag of popcorn. >> don't give the bag of popcorn or the apple or the toothbrush. >> there was a guy on our street who gave out pennies, which is nice, but even then. >> inflation, quarters. >> you know it all comes around in the end because my kids want me to dress up, they want me to be in full costume, the whole deal, and if i'm in full costume i'm getting cannedy. >> what are you going to be this year? >> are you going to reveal. >> i'm going to build some depth. >> are you dressing up for your show? >> i'm going to be a pickle with my kids. >> honey boo boo. >> or i might be brookley spears and do green hair like a naughty schoolgirl outfit. >> speaking of halloween costumes, let's take a look at google's top list. kit.

>> the top 12, halloween costumes for 2012. this is according to google. number one is bane, batman villain. >> very freaky. >> do you know what he looks like? >> i do, i saw it. he has that mask and everything. >> there he is, right there. >> he has that -- >> i don't like that hannibal lecter thing. >> hunger games. i guess, probably, every kid i know is going as gangnam style. >> minecraft, my kids play that game. >> there's psy. >> minecraft is a game where you're constructing and building with blocks. i guess you're just a bunch of blocks. >> is that a video game? >> big bird, oscar the grouch. >> and binders of women. >> look at honey boo boo down there at number 11. honey boo boo paid us a visit. >> she threw stuff at you. >> hit me with pillo and had two dolls doing things. >> i think you should be sugar bear, my baby daddy.

>> and there's the go-go juice. >> you guys speak fluent honey boo boo. >> i just scared myself. >> bring it. >> i slipped right in there very nice. >> cleaned her up. she looks great. >> sign me up. >> so good to ve you here in our little window seat. >> will you ce back? >> sure. >> thank you guys. it's been fun. >> love the bangs. >> they look good. >> coming by, rock-a-bye the vote. what the presidential race means for parents right after this. wardrobe. cute. then new activia breakfast blend. a great way to help start the day. mmm... creamy lowfat yogurt with grains in yummy breakfast flavors, like apple cinnamon. its hearty, with twice the protein of regular lowfat yogurt and helps regulate your digestive system. our morning routines are important, aren't they? new activia breakfast blend.

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bp has paid overthe people of bp twenty-threeitment to the gulf. billion dollars to help those affected and to cover cleanup costs. today, the beaches and gulf are open, and many areas are reporting their best tourism seasons in years. and bp's also committed to america. we support nearly 250,000 jobs and invest more here than anywhere else. we're working to fuel america for generations to come. our commitment has never been stronger. back now with "parenting today." as patients we strive to make choices that will impact our children in a positive way, including the big presidential decision facing voters now in 11 days. "parenting" magazine teamed up with nbc's kate snow for a revealing look at how politics plays a role in raising kids. and kate's here along with sean beam, "parenting's" executive editor. good morning to you both. >> good morning. >> obviously such an important topic on so many levels, but you

interviewed, sean, 1,100 parents, all of different races, religious, ethnicities, political viewpoints, so what was the criteria overall for choosing the sampling? >> well, really the criteria was very broad. we wanted people in our demo with families, with kids, under the age of 12. beyond that everyone was welcome to the party so to speak. we heard from a lot of different people and it's really interesting, because especially when it comes to the election, you think about all the decisions parents have to make. >> yeah. >> private school and public school, alternate schedules, regular schedules, am i going to stay at home or work? by the time they get around to the decision of who they want to lead the free world, they are used to making tough decisions. >> kate, you moderated a panel including ten people from the survey. what was your impression of what they were interested in, and what was most important to them? >> jobs obviously came up a lot, but i was surprised how much education came up and how personal politics becomes when

you're a parent and that's one of the key findings in the survey that they did is once you're a parent about half the respondents said that they had changed their political views or that they had strengthened or become more active politically, and i think when you have kids, this is what everybody said on the panel, you start to see things differently. you start to view life through the prism of your children and you want the best for them, and so, for example, two of the women had kids with special needs and they said all i think about is education and health care for my child with a special need. are they going to be okay when i'm gone? and they kind of viewed all politics through that. >> absolutely. well, let's get to some of the results as well from the survey and the connection, again, between parenting and politics. now, 48%, sean, of surveyed said they have become more politically motivated and 42% actually said they changed their viewpoint. you're a father of two. what do you make of these findings? >> i think to kate's point t.changes everything, the lens you view politics through.

you think about the election with parenthood. i think it changes everything, in my opinion. >> another question that you posed to those surveyed, kate, is do parents make better presidents, and majority actually believe that they do? >> right. >> and it all goes back to that question of family values. >> as opposed to a single person, the group that we, the focus group of ten that we had. they would be okay with a single parent or single person as a president, too, but if you look back, you did the research. was it 150 years ago that we had a single president. most presidents are married. >> you think about 150 years, you have to go back to find the first family that didn't have kids, and just shows you how important having kids are to softening the perception and the identity of a presidential candidate. >> first ladies really quick, thought this was really interesting. when asked who would be better prepared to be the first lady, a stay-at-home mom or working mom?

75% said it didn't matter. >> yeah. >> shows the mommy wars don't matter. >> we make more of the mommy wars than real women do. they all said i don't care whether ann romney worked outside the home. i don't care whether michelle obama worked outside the home. what they cared about is whether those women could relate to women in the real world. they did talk -- we had a vibrant discussion about whether they actually get our problems and understand, you know, the economic struggles that they were having. >> exactly. >> absolutely. you think about we were raised by a single or working mom, friends with a single or working mom. we're married to them, so at the end of the day we respect these people, and i don't think we really separate them out as being different or better than the other. >> they are part of the equation when it comes to picking who is going to be in office. shawn beam, "parenting's "ex "executive editor and kate snow. thanks to having you. >> pop goes today. new and noteworthy bits from

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well, "annie" is back on broadway which meant a big search for a dog to play sandy, not hurricane sandy. >> cute little dog sandy. >> in a new special you can follow along in shelters across the country scouring for the next canine star. that's the where the event i will star was found. the sun did come out for that little star. hosted by our own al roker. this special airs this weekend on nbc-owned stations.

be sure to check your local listings for the time. by the way, "annie" is now in previews on broadway and opens thursday, october 8th. just ahead, fun and affordable halloween koss toombs for your family. that's after the local news. i pe and decided to be...not boring. that's how i met marilyn... giada... really good. yes! [ jack ] ...and alicia. ♪ this girl is on fire [ male announcer ] use any citi® card to get the benefits of private pass. more concerts. more events. more experiences. [ jack ] hey, who's boring now? [ male announcer ] get more access with a citi card. [ crowd cheering, mouse clicks ] but what about your wrinkles? neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair visibly reduces fine lines and wrinkles in just one week. why wait if you don't have to. neutrogena®. has oats that can help lower cholesterol? and it tastes good? sure does!

wow. it's the honey, it makes it taste so... well, would you look at the time... what's the rush? be happy. be healthy. good morning. it's 9:26 on this friday, october 26th. i'm aaron gilchrist. storm team 4 tracking hurricane sandy's potential impact on the region. here is meteorologist, tom kierein. >> the latest track is bringing it closer to our area. yesterday it was in long island, new york city. now, it's coming to us monday and tuesday. the effects beginning sunday night. between now and then, clouds around. the effects from sandy beginning sunday night with strong winds monday and tuesday. aaron? >> thank you. president obama taking questions via satellite from students at

anncr: which do you believe? what mitt romney's tv ads say about women? or what mitt romney himself says? mitt romney: do i believe the supreme court... should overturn roe v. wade? yes. and it would be my preference that they, that they... reverse roe v. wade. hopefully reverse roe v. wade.

overturn roe v. wade. planned parenthood, we're going to get rid of that. i'll cut off funding to planned parenthood. anncr: no matter what mitt romney's ads say. we know what he'll do. president obama: i'm barack obama and... i approve this message. imillion dollars for maryland one hundred schools.ty... question seven will double it. rushern baker: question seven will add table games and... a new casino, generating millions of dollars... every year, without raising taxes. leggett: and audits will ensure the money goes... where it's supposed to. more jobs, and millions for schools. baker: question seven will be good for our kids... our teachers, and our schools. leggett: keep maryland money in maryland. baker: please vote for question seven. leggett: vote for question seven. good morning. have a crash involving a school

bus at wootton parkway and hurley avenue. expect delays. over to i-270, clear. aaron, over

♪ you're my angel >> one week, counting down now, from today, rockefeller plaza will be an absolute madhouse when rock 'n' roll hall of famers aerosmith take to our concert stable. and we are, look, counting down. seven days to go. i can't wait. >> how many days? >> just seven, just seven. >> okay. can't wait. >> i'm natalie morales along with savannah guthrie and jenna wolfe. a lot more than the consigalert a lot of big events wednesday, halloween. we are making it extra special this year we've got costumes, celebrity guests, prizes, a lot of surprises. we'll have the works so be sure

to join us next wednesday for all of the excitement. meantime though coming up this morning, we're going to get you ready with creative fun costume ideas, some really cute ones. >> i'm in love with this little guy. >> it's a lobster and the chef. cute. >> the lobster is going to be all right in this scenario. >> the lobster is like this is awkward. i hope it's halloween. >> what will your real estate dollar get you? today some homes on sale for less than $300,000 apparently in some areas. we'll show you those, and a little bit later on all the stories getting lots of buzz out in hall wood. >> first as we mentioned jenna is here with a preview of what's coming up this weekend on "today." >> a busy weekend. we'll get you up to date on hurricane sandy all throughout the weekend and we're heading to the battleground state of virginia for a cruciloser look

the crucial role that state is playing in the presidential race and we'll talk about treatment and prevention of breast cancer, and in the spirit of halloween i decided to try to communicate with the spirits by going to a real seance. >> i would never do that. >> did it work? we'll show what you happens. it might actually blow your mind. we went to a small town in florida where all these psychics and mediums live and work and breathe. >> are you courageous. i don't think i would do that. >> a little nerve-racking. >> come with a list of questions that you wanted answers. >> did you get answers? >> you know, i got answers. i got answers. >> did you seek out a particular spirit or whoever is up there? >> can't go in with too detailed of a game plan which is what i found out. >> i spoke to your great, great, great, great great grandfather on your father's side. >> she got answers and then that. >> thank you, look forward to that. looks go to al with another check of the weather and, of course, tracking hurricane

sandy. good morning, al. >> good morning, guys. we could use some of those psychics to tell us what sandy is going to do exactly, but in the meantime you can see exactly the seas starting to calm down a little bit here as sandy churns its way to the north. let's see what we've got for your weekend starting off with today. we're going to be looking. we do have sandyday. we are looking at -- saturday, i should say, sandy along the coast making for a lot of rain. we are looking for showers and thunderstorms in the pacific northwest with mountain snows. snows in the western plains. sunday, sunday, you can expect that rainmaking its way up the mid-atlantic coast. sunny skies through the gulf coast. is your honor texas into the southwest, more mountain snows back to the pacific northwest. that's what's going on around the country, here's what's happening in your neck of the woods. >> good morning, i'm storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein. the weather track brings sandy avor along the delmarva. that may be some time monday.

a category 1 hurricane with 70 to 80-mile-an-hour winds. weakening then stalling out and giving us gusts of wind that may cause power outages sunday afternoon and evening and into monday and >> of course, we'll node a little something to take our minds off sandy so what better way to take your mind off of a big old hurricane than biggest night of the week, sunday night "football night in america." that's right. the sports authority field will be hosting drew brees and the new orleans saints as they come in to play the broncos. it will be clear and cool. upper 40s to low 50s. that's right. on sunday night "football night in america." and in case you need something for saturday night, don't forget to check your nbc station for the search for sandy. the ability to find the little dog sandy from, of course, the

broadway musical "annie" that's going to be reviving on broadway. sandy the dog, sandy the hurricane. it's perfect. >> okay. and i like how you maintained your football voice, al. i know you're working hard down there. stay safe, and we'll be watching you this weekend. thank you. >> all right, kid. >> see you later. coming up next, we'll have a coast-to-coast tour of homes on the market. they are less than $300,000, but first these messages. you can't argue with nutrition you can see. great grains. great grains cereal starts whole and stays whole.

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♪ i'm going home >> this morning on "today's real estate" what you can get for under $300,000. real estate expert barbara corcoran is here with a great mix of homes all across the country. barbara, good morning. >> good morning, natalie. >> let's get started because you found some gems of property. let's start with the great city of atlanta, georgia, a gorgeous home there, under $270,000, and you're getting that whole southern charm with it, right? >> you get a lot of charm. this is a charleson-style home, just five minutes from downtown. what love is that double front porch. if you don't have rocking chairs maybe you should get some. >> wow. >> inside the house it's thoroughly up to date, still retains its southern charm. i particularly like the dark wood floors in the living room with the built-in book cases flanking the fireplace, the bank of large windows makes that room stunning, i believe. the kitchen has a snazzy glass top backsplash with granite counters and oversized dining

area. who needs a dining room, but bam, you get it anyway. when a lovely home. >> looks like it's all been redone, move in. five minutes from downtown. fantastic. let's go to boise, idaho now and here you're showing us an updated bungalow coming in at 249,9. >> who doesn't love a bungalow with a white picket fence in an historic neighborhood and a short walk to boise downtown. if you haven't been to boise, natalie, this place is hoping with artist and beatniks, a great place to built. built in 1910, a lot of original details. built-in book cases, wide baseboards and a whitewashed brick fireplace that people never get tired of. what you have there is a beautiful studio behind the house, separate from the house with wood floors and beams, its own half bath, what a great place for the mom to hang out. the kitchen is picture perfect. doesn't get any prettier than that and the dining room has expensive built-in side boards and original wood trim. i think it suits the house

beautifully, and the bedrooms have textured stucco walls. people aren't crazy about that anymore, but a nice wide base board all around and taxes on this house are only $1,600 a year. >> wow, that's a bargain. that's fantastic. let's move to carrollton, texas, and here is a large five-bedroom home, four baths and squeaking in at just under $300,000. >> this little house or i should say big house is a real piece of dallas cowboy history. the home was previously owned by dallas cowboy two-time super bowl champion alvin harper and it's 3,700 square feet big. look at the pool out back. >> even has the star. >> love it. good for him, maybe not good for the next guy, but they could dream a little bit. it's at least unique. there's a big game room. that's got to be every guy's dream, arch windows and uniquely angled ceiling. don't get how that was designed. the kitchen, formal fair place and a family room with a cozy

brick fireplace, lovely room and the master bedroom is decked out, which you never see with a marble floor. >> who puts marble in a master bedroom. keeps it clean i guess. neighboring new mexico, a beautiful house in santa fe. >> santa fe has old-fashioned homes and doesn't get more old-fashioned than this. this is like a tiny little package with a big surprise on the inside. it's across from santa fe downtown, and it's a blast from the past. inside, look at that, would you suspect that looking on the outside? >> no way. >> the main living areas have the steel spiral case, two of them in the house, and that one leads to the loft, totally empty except for the skinny mini table. i don't get what's going on there. the bath is a hoot, modern, the sculptures tub. looks like somebody just plopped, laid an egg in there, you know what i mean, chubby kid or dad, plop them right in there. it looks out to the open desert out back and the sky ceilings

and sky lights and cement floors radiantly heated. >> 275,000. great for that price. barbara corcoran, thank you so much. coming up, taylor swift to jessica and justin's wedding, the hottest news from the world of entertainment, right after this. [ ding dong ] hey -- little m&m's! wow! great costumes. what are you guys -- like four or five? forty-six. alright, yeah ok. here you go. you don't understand, slick. we're here for the party. whoo! yeah, that's cute! [ laughing ] put your hand down.

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all right. time for "pop goes today," a roundup of what is new and noteworthy. alicia quarles is correspondent for enews. starting with hollywood. britney spears. a lot of excitement because she's a judge on "the x-factor" and now there's courtroom drama. >> courtroom drama. remember years ago when brittany was having a very public breakdown. sam lufke is taking her and her parents to court. he said he was her manager during that time period and she promised him 15%, but the trial is really ugly, dragging up a lot of britney from years ago. >> getting a lot of good reviews? >> interesting when the show goes live november 1st. britney is doing very well, so it's kind of funny to be brought back to that time when she wasn't doing so well with this trial. >> meanwhile, taylor swift, got a new album red, and she has been dating connor kennedy but there's a rumor that's

splitsville. >> never getting back together. apparently they have split. taylor, don't cry for her. her album is set to sell a million copies. a huge week for taylor. have something to write about for her next album. >> every time she breaks up she gets a great song out of it. >> she does. >> a summer romance. taylor loved the kennedys. traveling and promoting the album. they are busy. >> let's talk about what's popping this week. "cloud atlas" from the director best known for "the matrix." >> "cloud atlas" opened at toronto film festival where it had a standing ovation but critics are giving it a mixed review. it talks about how hard it's been growing up suicidal and everything she's gone through. the media action network is taking a stance against the movie saying that the cast numbers remain to look asian, not done in a bright way so a lot of controversy around this movie. >> what are they saying about that? >> not enough to make characters, you know, yellow, so to speak because all the

characters -- all the actors play different characters. they are saying it's about facial features and about a lot of things so they didn't do it right. they say we get it. see the movie. >> let's talk music. alicia keyes who we love. got a brand new app that moms will love. >> this app is really cool, inspired for our 2-year-old son egypt. it's an app where you can write in the journal, go in the room, multi-cultural, an apf for moms and children. >> a new album from musician gary clark jr., "rolling stones" asking how can a serious blues man thrive in the age of auto tunes. >> he's 28 years old, blessing

anncr: it's said that character is what we do... when we think no one is looking. mitt romney: believe that they are victims. anncr: mitt romney thought no one was looking when... he attacked forty-seven percent of americans. his companies shipped jobs overseas. his plan cuts millionaires' taxes, but raises yours. he'll voucherize medicare... and make catastrophic cuts to education. so remember what romney said... and what his plan would do. president obama: i'm barack obama and... i approve this message.

this morning on "today celebrates halloween," fun and affordable costumes for the entire family. a style contributor has found some great costumes for us. good morning to you. >> good morning to you. >> don't have to stress. still a couple of days. you can find these and they are affordable. >> if you're not a crafty person "lucky" is all about shopping. you can find things online and you still have time with good stuff so i really want to get to it. >> let's get to these great

costumes. nick, and 8-month-old gemma. got the chef and the lobster, and i know these two are very close to you. >> this is my daughter gemma and my husband nick and nobody can deny the adorableness of this costume. really clever. have some fun with it. if you have a new baby, really wanted to get in on the fun, so nick's costumes and gemma's costume, both from around $50. >> and then you add. >> my little lobster bib. around $11 from amazon. really fun. >> your daughter is gorgeous. >> thank you. >> zoo crew, great if you have a whole group of kids. christina the zookeeper, even got the stroller involved here on the action. >> this is the perfect kind of costume if you have a lot of kids to raly. >> come on in here, animals. >> christina is the zookeeper and a brave soul. you don't always have to go to a

costume store. you can find things, source them in other places. little diy action, added the snake from halloween costumes. i want to talk about blake, the little sleeping lion. >> so cute. >> that is your producer's son, adorable little blake in a costume from by costumes. >> the little lion is sleeping tonight. >> seeing a trend of stroller costumes which is so cool. this is actually handmade, not by us at "lucky" but we shopped it out. bestlittledress.com. handmade, $89. not that i want to talk about our little giraffe and our sisters, the elephant and the panda. >> all look beautiful. >> all these costumes really affordable online. get them at by costumes. >> and they are great and keep them work as well. >> guys, thank you. okay, next, an ode to the olympians. how much we loved the summer olympics. >> i know. >> to bring out our olympic athletes, come on out, guys. >> a perfect kind of costume, natalie, for those kids between 8 and 10 who don't necessarily want to dress up with their parents but want to do it with

their friends. this is setting a really great example. i love what we did here. louis is in this amazing t-shirt. >> michael phelps, ryan lochte. gabby douglas, and the wrestler in trendtimes.com, that body suit. can you see andrew really worked out for her and channeling her inner gabby douglas in a lookit.com leotard. >> we're running out of time. thank you, guys. an ode to the '50s, kate and lance going back disco era, andy war hole and bianca jagger. >> a lot more options than sexy nurse. we try to be very glamorous. these are things that lance and kate who are actually bianca and andy can wear, from victoria's secret, h & m american apparel, throw a little disco ball on it, super fun. >> everybody out quick.

good morning. 9:57 now on this friday, october 26th. i'm aaron gilchrist. storm team 4 is tracking hurricane sandy's potential impact on the d.c. region. here is tom kierein. tam? >> the latest track is showing it near delaware bay around 2:00 a.m. on tuesday. then slowing down as it moves inland. certainly close enough to us. it's close enough to the metro

area to be concerned about po r er outages. they continue off and on on monday. clouds today and tomorrow with clouds in the 60s to 70s. then, on wednesday, thursday, we ought to see things improving. i's going to be chilly. now, how is late morning traffic? >> we have a situation on pennsylvania avenue. suspicious package at the canadian embassy has pennsylvania avenue shut down between 6th and 4th street. avoid the area. back to you. >> thank you. stay with storm team 4 for stay [ male announcer ]for if barack obama is re-elected, what will the next four years be like? one: the debt will grow from $16 trillion to $20 trillion. two: 20 million americans could lose their employer-based health care. three: taxes on the middle class will go up by $4,000. four: energy prices will continue to go up. and five: $716 billion in medicare cuts that hurt current seniors. five reasons we can't afford four more years of barack obama.

i'm mitt romney and i approve this message.

from nbc news this is "today" with kathie lee gifford and hoda kotb. from studio 1-a in rockefeller plaza. all right, it's been a very long week, hasn't it? but you have made it to tri-day friday, hoda woman. it's october 26th. we're so happy you're with us today. >> i have a lot of chest showing, i'm noticing. >> on you, honey, it looks good. modest and slim for tonight. she likes to think ahead. never thinks through, but she thinks ahead. all right, so we've talked about the subject before, but in restaurants people often have

their cell phones, movie theaters, broadway shows, by the way, at your broadway show, ring, ring, i heard two. >> i know. >> happens, happened to us too. >> it happens. i got to fix that on my phone. i put it on off. it happened the other day at rehearsal. i said i just turned the dang thing off. >> allegedly. >> dang, dang, dang. >> they have these things now -- oh! your name came up. the thing is, here's what you do in restaurants. they have a cell lockup. you lock your cell here in this cell thing, it's locked. now you can't get your cell phone out. >> until when, hell freezes over, when? >> set a timer. britt, please, call again. listen to my ring. let's forget all this. i love my ring. listen. very cool. it says britt. brittney's calling. no one calls me. >> there's no room on the table

for the bread, much less this thing. >> check your coat. anyway, it seemed like a good idea at the time. >> terrible idea. >> plastic and it's not great. >> who wants to program one more thing in your life? just turn it off, if you're able to on your phone. if you're having lunch with somebody that is not worth being interrupted for, you got to get new friends. >> i agree. >> you know what i mean? >> i have to say, even when people are texting, when you're at a movie and the cell phone is on, the light is on and texting, your eyes are drawn to it, you're trying to watch the movie or show. but it's distracting. >> i was big on all this stuff before, both my children are now of a sudden now gone in california, and i'm just so hesitant to be unreachable. >> yeah, always want to have your phone nearby. >> that sort of changed my whole thing. i do go over to gallagher's on occasion when nobody else is there and make phone calls in the corner, but nobody else is

around. check your space. if you're going to be bothering people, somebody trying to get engaged next to you, don't ask somebody on the phone if they are coming to dinner on friday. do you know how clueless people are to check their space? no idea, they are clueless. >> or in line on the grocery store, yeah, yeah, lady checks them out. hold on a second. no, no, pay attention to the person. >> one store now that charges automatically rings up $3 extra if you're on your cell phone. i like it. more importantly, sunday is national chocolate day. and so we thought we'd celebrate a little early. we won't be with you. thank you, godiva, for sending these absolutely gorgeous things. >> can i tell you something? >> these are chocolate. >> can i just say something? when i bite into chocolate, it is chemical. i can feel, seriously, i'm happier. this is so good. >> you start oozing endoor --

endorphins. >> apparently men are consuming chocolate more than ever. experts say they believe it's because they are doing what we women have been doing for years, comfort eating. >> comfort food. >> more and more men are stressed, bad economy, unemployment rising. >> i'm craving more and more lately mashed potatoes. >> beloved french fries. >> when a guy's doing it and eating chocolate and craving it, it's weird. >> they are not pms-ing, so you wonder what's going on, right? >> yes, you do. >> they say men have some sort of an emotional cycle as well. >> i don't like talking about that. >> excuse me for boring you. you'll love this. a 20-year-old girl from, i believe, south america, right? >> brazilian woman.

>> catalina auctioned off her virginity. >> all the guys are looking. >> to a man -- we believe it's a man, a japanese gentleman. a man paid $780,000 for her. she said she did it because she wanted the money to go to a charity in her hometown of brazil to rebuild homes and things. that's why i did it the first time. made sense at the time. you know, you grow, you learn. you would do the same thing again. but back then -- ♪ ♪ like a virgin >> you are crazy. >> anyway, she did it. circumnavigate the prostitution laws. it's going to take place aboard a plane. would you turn your phone off, woman? >> it's karen. she says she's watching. just so you know.

she's watching us. >> flying some place between australia and the u.s. the young woman says the auction is just business. m a romantic girl at heart and believe in love, but this will make a huge difference to my area. not that area. although -- she's right twice. and this is the best part, all of you romantics out there. the story will be turned into a documentary so we can all learn from this and our lives will be so much more meaningful. >> oh, my gosh. unbelievable. unbelievable. >> first of all, who believes that gorgeous girl is still -- >> she might be. she's 20. she might be. >> you were 12, right? what happened? >> that's awful. let's move on to the dirty magazine story. >> not those kind of dirty magazines. the kind at a from doctor's office. >> look at them.

look at this one. >> they have collected a lot of germs. >> think about the number of people who are ill at the doctor's office who are in the waiting room hacking and coughing into their sleeve like they are supposed to, but still on their hands, flipping the pages, put it down, you pick them up. some of them have the plastic thing, the shield, whatever that's about. wipe it down maybe. anyway, the germs are all over those nasty magazines. >> you and i, people who don't even think about germs, we're never sick around here. >> we don't care. we don't care about gross germs. >> all you, you know who you are. >> over here. >> all the time -- >> all they think about is purel and checking things and wiping it off, cleaning it. win dexing it. >> we have something to say to you all, wipe this. all right, if you've ever gone to get waxed downstairs or lasered, do you speak to the person doing it or do you sit

quietly and hope it gets over with quickly? i'd like someone having a conversation. i don't like to sit there. >> what are you going to talk about, social security? >> anything, doesn't even matter. it's so painful, that you have to be talking about something. >> what do you talk to her about? >> doesn't matter. anything, because you're not thinking about it, because it really hurts. >> i thought you were getting lasered. >> lasered is painful. it's really painful. i'm just saying. i've gone back probably -- i thought they said it was a five time -- i keep going back. it's never over. anyway, most people say they don't like talking. what about you? you don't do it. >> how do you know what i do? i just think god's way is the best way most of the time, if you know what i'm saying. if there wasn't a reason for that stuff, it wouldn't be there. >> stop trying to get rid of it . still looking for a halloween costume? bravo has a good idea.

look like a housewife. >> look at them there. i think that one's theresa. anyway, you can get the dress, wig, jewels. >> you have to make up your own accent. it's $59.95 at shopatbravo.com. you have to bring your own booze and you've got to -- ♪ >> all right, kids. >> they rehearsed that three times. >> we have a costume contest, if you're in our neighborhood, come by on wednesday, halloween, come out to the plaza. we're going to reveal our halloween costumes. >> it's always a huge, huge day around here. we keep it very, very secret. lots of surprises. hopefully, that hurricane sandy will be -- what do i have? >> nothing. i thought you had something, you don't. >> you gave me the look. >> you're good, you don't have it. >> my nose, my teeth? >> not yet. should we talk to our girl?

>> bobbie thomas! what do you got? >> i have fun new stuff. how many of us hate getting our nails done at the salon or painting them at home? well, these are called nails in motion. you can see on my hands, they are little shields that you click on before you get your man cu icure. these, i have to say, your nails do not hit. they are amazing. >> what about when you're turning? >> it's got a guard inside. they are amazing, you can try them. >> oh, my gosh! >> another really smart invention by eyes, lips, face. see that, it's amazing, right? >> what's that? >> it's a shadow shield. you can ho it underneath to avoid getting all of the shadow down under your eyes. it's perfect for halloween holiday season. this is a hot new launch. eyes, lip, face.

>> do your eye makeup first? >> sometimes you want to get your concealer on and all that and do it last. if you put the powder on, you can mess up the blend on the edges. >> i was wondering about that. now i'm going to hold you to it. >> if you want to keep your glitter where it's supposed to be, these are by violent eyes, they are tattoo shadows for your eyes. it's a perfect shadow. they are very cool. all at klgandhoda.com. >> thank you, bobbie thomas. i know you're dying for it, can't wait. it's kathie lee's friday funny! thank you for the mercy laugh. from facebook fan, thank you so much. okay, a school girl comes home from school one day eating candy, when the mother asked where she got the candy, she says, bobby said he'd give me candy if i climbed the flag pole. honey, i do not want you to ever do that again!

all bobby wants to do is see your underwear. the next day the girl comes home again eating candy. the mother scolds her, didn't i tell you never to do that again? how many times do i have to tell you? bobby just wants to see your underwear. to that, the little girl replies, i fooled you, i didn't wear any. [ laughter ] country music star, who is here? >> martina mcbride. >> we love her! >> she's going to tell us what she's been singing about right after this. hungry for the best? it's eb. want to give your family the very best in taste, freshness, and nutrition? it's eb. want to give them more vitamins, omega 3s, and less saturated fat? it's eb. eggland's best eggs. eb's. the only eggs that make better taste and better nutrition... easy. eggland's best eggs. better taste. better nutrition.

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without smudging, creasing or fading away. ♪ it's a great song. four-time cma female vocalist of the year, martina mcbride,

singing one of our favorite songs. >> she has sold more than 18 million albums, including six number one songs. >> and we seem to have you at least once a year telling us about a number one song on the charts again. good to see you. you're in the middle of a big tour, right? >> we are. we're on a tour that kind of wraps up this next month, then we start our christmas tour. >> this song, "i'm going to love you through" was daring. you flat-out said the word breast cancer, have a lot of cancer survivors in your video. >> you're in it. >> i came in and played with you too. what's it feel like when you're up on stage singing this song? >> that's what attracted me to the song, it's honest and real and doesn't sugar coat anything. comes from a true story. when i'm on stage, it's emotional, you know, singing somewhere the other night and all of a sudden groups of people just started standing up and holding each other.

>> spontaneously. >> because they related to the song. it's a very emotional song to sing live. >> i was just going to ask you about you. you've got three children. two of them are girls or all three? >> two girls. >> chance of it, 1 in 8 women now, going to be diagnosed with breast cancer. once you have your own daughter, you start thinking about those kinds of things as well. what's it like for you to be on the road so much and be away from your kids, martina? it must kill you. >> my touring is -- we don't go out for weeks and weeks at a time, couple of days, maybe three days at the most. and sometimes my little 7-year-old comes with me, but it is hard. when they were little, they came with me everywhere. >> but once they are in school, yeah. >> that's been adjustment the last couple of years, especially once they got into high school. >> they don't want to go on the road anymore. bye! >> do they listen to your music,

are they into it? >> they are sweet about it. they do listen to it. they have some of it on their ipods and whatever. >> sure. >> they've got their favorites. >> you're nominated for another cma award. you're always nominated for something. it's interesting, there are new crops of singers that come and go, but you're always in the group. >> you're like the new reba. >> thank you. cross my fingers. still, you know, on the list this year. people say does that get old, are you kidding me? it's so amazing to be included. that's one of the toughest categories every year. >> it must be great when you tour, because you're inspiring women, especially with this song, but there are women who have organized groups and started fundraisers. >> as a result of a song you sang. >> absolutely. i've gotten into a group called team martina. there they are. they have networked through the internet all over the united states and ended up -- they have

a grant for t.j. martell in my name that they are raising money for. i think they are up to $23,000. >> you're kidding! >> from a song. from a story, one person's story. >> you really did a greathing th this song and your whole career. you always inspire us. >> next time you have to sing, sorry. >> next time we promise to bring tequila, that's her drink. >> i was wondering. >> sorry, sorry. >> how do you get through your concerts, i do not know. >> like we get through our shows. good luck again on the country music awards november 1st. get ready for the fuzzy photos that are going to make you say -- what the what? right after this. ♪

♪ ♪

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that makes tv even better. if your tv were a hot dog zeebox would be fancy, french mustard. when they magically unite, people would think "woah, this two dollar hot dog tastes like an eight dollar hot dog." download zeebox free, and say "woah" when you watch tv. look at all those photos that make you do a double take and make you say what the what? sara sifted through the pictures you sent in and is here with this week's top picks. we are on the edge of our seat. >> here we go again. first photo from laura ann luck from washington, d.c. cease funeral home. it's just a little bit literal. the only thing worse would have

been the end funeral home. but that is the family's name is cease. >> i'm sure they are lovely people. >> yeah. maybe an unfortunate last name. this photo was submitted from madison, wisconsin. they are installing this presently by each of your dressing rooms. sometimes you just need a little warning. >> picnic area? that's cute actually. that's adorable. >> that happened. better safe than sorry. next up, a photo from ellen jill from bluffton, ohio. he was going to go either way, criminal or a cop. we knew it was coming, here we go. >> i'd vote for him. >> another perfect last name for a job. elizabeth nelson from chicago, illinois. sent us this photo. got poop, we scoop. number one in the number two business. 888-poop-watch. then the license kind of says it

all, ruff job. >> that's great, that's great. >> i bet those people are fun in a cocktail party. >> do you know how distracted you'd be driving? finally, tina palmer from newcastle, washington, submitted this photo. it wasn't such a happy halloween. >> that is great. that is perfect. perfect. let's leave it where it is. >> no, stop talking. it's perfect. >> hoda -- kathie lee -- >> focus. >> four in a row, honey. leave it at that. it's a bit of a miracle. >> if you have a picture, send it in. sara will look through it. >> all righty, keep them guessing, everybody. we'll unlock secrets to being an ageless beauty. and jill martin is going to help save you from

embarrassment. and artist tony bennett. >> tony bennett is here? >> after your local news. ♪ and walmart have teamed up to bring you a low-priced medicare prescription drug plan. ♪ with a low national plan premium... ♪ ...and copays as low as one dollar... ♪ ...saving on your medicare prescriptions is easy. ♪ so you're free to focus on the things that really matter. call humana at 1-800-808-4003. or go to walmart.com for details. call humana at 1-800-808-4003. hershey's drops. a lot of hershey's happiness in little drops of milk chocolate. and cookies n creme. pure hershey's.

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anncr: no matter what mitt romney's ads say. we know what he'll do. president obama: i'm barack obama and... i approve this message.

we're back with today's style and everything you need in case of a fashion emergency. >> from a sippy cup for wine, shoes that flash. jill martin is here with the goods. >> hello. i stole your purse. >> yes, you did. >> from your room. and in it next to the neck thing is a glass of wine. >> that is -- >> that's wine storage. can't dump it upsidedown, but if you go like this -- >> you have no idea. >> if you open it -- >> just pop it? >> yeah, when you open it, it's a wine glass. >> that is great. >> can you sip it? >> i am so excited! >> is that fantastic? scandalous? >> i love it, love it.

>> $15. this is our idea of a fashion emergency. okay, these heels have reinvented themselves. so this is a nighttime look and then daytime. >> cool! here's the one-quarter, half inch, back to being a quarter. >> pretty darn awesome. >> day to night? >> darn awesome. >> these are a way to design your own heels to customize your shoes. $88. you can pick your heel height and the width of your shoe. if you want a different permutation. >> did you say permutation? >> yes. $88, you can customize your shoes. >> a will the of people have weird feet, let's be honest. >> this is a little mist and it will take off your nail polish. just put it on your nail.

we were having sara model this. >> you don't have to do that. >> i will. it will take off all your nail polish. it's a mitt. this is funny, do you like my cuff bracelet? >> yes, very much. >> i'm out, i want to put my hair up, from goodies for $5. bracelets $5 to $10 and this is a necklace that becomes a headband. >> very cute! >> goody always has good stuff. >> good for goody. >> showthis.com. so i have a scarf on, i go to a concert. i need my glasses, where are they? i'm at "scandalous," where are my glasses? >> put lip gloss, keys. >> my pen. >> credit card. >> that's a great idea. >> doesn't look like there's stuff in there. >> isn't it great? and you can wear it also as a shawl. >> nice! >> then it comes with, for $10,

the watch. >> you forgot your blush. >> okay, this i love. this is riseandhang.com. this is a suitcase that smooshes down, lift it up, then you're packed when traveling. >> carry on. >> isn't that fabulous? >> wow. that's really smart. >> isn't that great? >> who wants to put stuff in drawers anyway? just do that. >> when you go away to hotels and put stuff in the drawers, i think about it. >> never would have thought of such a thing. >> then this is new, this is for our boys who travel with a lot of baseball hats and don't want them to get smooshed. >> do guys have that many? >> i don't trust a guy like that. >> how many, one, two, three? >> that would be jason with all of his. >> you know who loves this? jude law. >> makes me wonder about him. i'm sorry. brilliant actor. we don't judge around here.

we just think it's weird. the accidental housewife. >> look at her. she's at it again. >> a little too much energy for me. >> is that a rake? >> yeah. [ female announcer ] introducing yoplait greek 100. 100% new. 100% mmm... wow, that is mmm... it's so mmm you might not believe it's a hundred calories. new yoplait greek 100. it is so good.

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enjoy the beautiful fall foliage while you can. very soon you're going to be raking up those beautiful leaves on your front lawn and tackling other chores. >> here is the accidental housewife and featured columnist for parent and child magazine, ms. julie edelman. you're back and putting us back to work. >> tips and tools to help you save time, money, and your manicure. these are very fashionable from garden girl. they are terrific for outdoors, plus these little boots. >> i love the boots. >> these will, also, take care of your pedicure. >> a few things to think about when you're doing your leaves. never a windy day, never after rain. you really don't have to do it all that often. once the grass stops growing, of course, i'm sure you're there with a measuring stick. during that season, the lawn

mowers are mulching. when you do get to it, the wide areas are important, not under trees or bushes, because they self compost. >> not under trees or bushes. >> i love these two rakes. you really look comfortable doing this. you want one with a comfy handle like this. it prevents blisters. am i in your way? >> uh-huh. >> these are -- stop. all right, these are our next thing. those are true temper, by the way. >> these are very cool. i love these. >> these are a claw-tree rake, by the way. both under $16. drop your rake. >> you know, please is a nice word. >> very busy day. use these as cymbals if you like, but the real thing is the claws. look how easily. >> i have cleavage. >> give the prisoners a little

something, hoda. >> it protects you there. all right, what is great about these, these are called leaf claws, okay, they are only $6.99. you can get them at walmart. while you continue to do this. >> we're sick of this. >> these are great, dissolved leaf bag. they are a pop up you put inside. these are corn resin. >> cord or corn? >> corn. c-o-r-n. they hold more than most. >> look how smart that! >> wow! >> so much more fascinating than normal. >> comes with a handle that usually stays on. then drag it. >> fantastic. >> what's great here too is the fact they will dry out. some bags the moisture seeps in. >> plastic. >> get your mind out of the gutter, all right? come on over. this is not to hook you. this is great. this is called a gutter cluster

buster. what's cool about it is you have to go on ladders. there's no spraying. you attach it to a 2.5-inch wetback, just like so. watch this. right out of there. you want to get rid of these, because you don't want ice there or moisture underneath. there you go. >> it's working! that's great. >> isn't that good? >> i love stuff like that. >> i know you do. >> it comes with extensions. >> you can do your hair. >> you can do your hair. >> silly, so silly. >> let's clean the windows, shall we? >> clean the windows, okay, two things. you want to look for cracks. anything getting in, make sure that's not happening. this is very simple, it's airtight. just caulk it, push it right in there. within a couple hours, it's dry, you can paint over it. simple, under $3. all right, you want to wash your

windows, okay? this may look dangerous, ladies, but it's not. this is really cool. this is a spray and wash. get it at lowe's. $19.99. it's a power washer. obviously, we can't do this. first with water, then a water and mixture. i like using, as you know, use vinegar. >> you love your vinegar! >> vodka, vodka. >> don't waste it. >> a shot for you and a shot for your windows. then dry it, use coffee filters instead of newspaper. >> say good-bye. >> coke? cola. isn't that crazy? >> go back and forth. >> i know it. >> then you want to be sure, not the newspaper, you would pick a really good cover for the winter months. >> thank you. good stuff, julie. coming up, unlocking the secrets for looking younger than you are. >> really? >> right after this.

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let's face it, most of us would like to look younger than we actually are, but dressing too young for your age or wrong makeup can have the opposite effect. >> christine will show you the right wardrobe to create an ageless style of your very own. our old friend. talk about ageless. >> way back. >> there are some things we can learn from. >> absolutely. you know, it's a wonderful time to be ageless, and it just starts with your clothes and your makeup. i've got some wonderful examples to show you. >> it's the ageless way and the older way. >> aging is what you don't want to do. we're going to start with a very classic look. that's from lands end. this is something you would see kate middleton wear. she is ageless. >> she's, what, 32? >> she is ageless the way she dresses. >> yeah, yeah.

>> laura hutton, sharon osbourne, they are ageless women. one thing you have to have is a great smile. one thing aging going to a vintage store, buying wonderful sweaters and dresses, but you know what, on us, looks like we dusted it out of the back of our closet. i don't know if you saw these colorful jeans, kate middleton wore them. she can wear anything. but for grown-up girls, you have to wear black or classic denim. they are ageless. i have on these jeans, lee je s jeans, they fit, they stretch, they are comfortable. >> you want to look good, not ridiculous. >> that's what does it. >> let's talk glasses. >> that's a tough one. >> there's so much to choose from now. >> glasses are my favorite accessory, they have so much personality. again, these are aging, too trendy. the glitter on them, the shape. these are ageless. >> what about aviators? >> they drop your face.

the ageless, like this one is wonderful because it's classic. anybody could wear it. you don't want anything that has a big name on it. something soft with color. this is my personal favorite. i love a little bit of personality with glasses. you can go personality, just don't go glitzy and retro. >> shoes! >> shoes, okay, perfect for kim kardashian, perfect for kim kardashian, she looks great in them. we won't be able to walk in them. >> what should we wear? >> bootsies. >> michael kors. so great. remember when we tied our scarves swear and wore lace? this is aging, it looks like it came off your sofa. scarves today are soft, they are long. you can wrap them around, they are soft and flattering. these are beautiful. sarah stewart and dny, they are affordable and great way to get

color by your face. nylons, don't wear purple nylons or purple legs. nudes, blacks. if you want to have some personality, wear some socks under your pants. then when you cross your leg, you see polka dot. makeup. christie brinkley does it well. less is best as you get older. too much makeup really ages you. >> gets in your cracks, so to speak. >> i love these sparkle shadows. they look so pretty in the jars. on your face, no sparkle, not too much shine. not a creamy, heavy base at all. i love tinted moisturizers. i wear it all the time. she has a moisturizer and primer. >> we've held that up for our favorite thing before. >> got to keep your teeth white. no dark beverages. clear beverages. >> start tomorrow. >> we're saying just to that one. >> yes to this one.

>> great to see you again, christine. he's up next to sing an old-time classic. first, this is "today" on nbc. ♪ anncr: five hundred and thirty seven.

the number of votes that changed the course of american history. newscaster: florida is too close to call... anncr: the difference between what was... and what could have been. so this year, if you're thinking that your vote doesn't count.

that it won't matter. well, back then, there were probably at least 537 people... who felt the same way. make your voice heard. vote. president obama: i'm barack obama and... i approve this message.

the toyota concert series on "today" brought to you by toyota. ♪ >> tony bennett is an entertainment icon, winner of 17 grammy awards and still going strong. his latest album is called "viva duet." >> here's our tony crooning a song he first released in 1961 "the best is yet to come." have a great weekend, everybody. see y'all at "scandalous."

♪ out of the tree of life i just picked me a plum ♪ ♪ you came along and everything started to hum ♪ ♪ still it's real good beat ♪ the best is yet to come ♪ the best is yet to come and won't that be fine ♪ ♪ you think you've seen the sun but you ain't seen it shine ♪ ♪ wait till the warm-up is under way ♪ ♪ wait till our lips have met ♪ wait till you see that sunshine day ♪ ♪ you ain't seen nothing yet

♪ the best is yet to come ♪ come the day that you're mine ♪ ♪ i'm gonna teach you to fly ♪ we've only tasted wine ♪ we're gonna drain that cup dry ♪ ♪ wait till you're locked in my embrace ♪ ♪ wait till i draw you near ♪ wait till you see that sunshine ♪ ♪ ain't nothing like it here ♪ the best is yet to come and won't that be fine ♪ ♪ the best is yet to come, come the day you're mine ♪ ♪ out of the tree of life i just picked me a plum ♪